X-ray Micro-radiography and Microscopy of Seeds
High-resolution high-contrast X-ray radiography of plant seeds combined with images taken by microscopy. The X-ray images were measured using combination of a micro-focus X-ray source and a state-of-the-art hybrid pixel semiconductor detector. The detector enables imaging in so-called single photon counting regime allowing acquiring radiographs with theoretically unlimited dynamic range (in practice limited just by the number of detected photons). In combination with point-like source magnifying geometry, the technique presents a powerful tool allowing non-destructive investigation of mm-sized object of any kind. The results show a novel application of the technique to plant biology, namely the visualization of seeds (typically 3 mm in size). For better interpretation of imaged features, the radiographs are combined with the images taken by microscopy.
First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Czech Republic. Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic