Quantitative dual-energy CT as a nondestructive tool to identify indicators for fossilized bone in vertebrate paleontology.

Autor: Hamm CA; Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117, Berlin, Germany. Charlie.hamm@charite.de.; Institute of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald University Hospital, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße, 17475, Greifswald, Germany. Charlie.hamm@charite.de., Hampe O; Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany., Mews J; Canon Medical Systems Europe BV, Global RDC, Zilverstraat 1, 2718RP, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands., Günter C; Institute for Geosciences, University of Potsdam, 14469, Potsdam, Germany., Milke R; Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstraße 74-100, 12249, Berlin, Germany., Witzmann F; Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany., Savic LJ; Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117, Berlin, Germany.; Berlin Institute of Health at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany., Hecht L; Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany.; Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstraße 74-100, 12249, Berlin, Germany., Meister S; Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstraße 74-100, 12249, Berlin, Germany., Hamm B; Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117, Berlin, Germany., Asbach P; Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117, Berlin, Germany., Diekhoff T; Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2022 Sep 30; Vol. 12 (1), pp. 16407. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 30.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20707-5
Abstrakt: Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) is an imaging technique that combines nondestructive morphological cross-sectional imaging of objects and the quantification of their chemical composition. However, its potential to assist investigations in paleontology has not yet been explored. This study investigates quantitative DECT for the nondestructive density- and element-based material decomposition of fossilized bones. Specifically, DECT was developed and validated for imaging-based calcium and fluorine quantification in bones of five fossil vertebrates from different geological time periods and of one extant vertebrate. The analysis shows that DECT material maps can differentiate bone from surrounding sediment and reveals fluorine as an imaging marker for fossilized bone and a reliable indicator of the age of terrestrial fossils. Moreover, the jaw bone mass of Tyrannosaurus rex showed areas of particularly high fluorine concentrations on DECT, while conventional CT imaging features supported the diagnosis of chronic osteomyelitis. These findings highlight the relevance of radiological imaging techniques in the natural sciences by introducing quantitative DECT imaging as a nondestructive approach for material decomposition in fossilized objects, thereby potentially adding to the toolbox of paleontological studies.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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