Seminars Archive

The SYRMEP beamline – status and future prospects

Abstract
The SYRMEP (Synchrotron Radiation for MEdical Physics) beamline uses the hard X-ray energy component of SR for the application of novel imaging techniques to multidisciplinary research fields, from medical radiology to material science and cultural heritage. The beamline was built thanks to the initial support of the Trieste University in the late ‘90s and since the beginning of its operations an important effort has been made to develop flexible experimental set-ups to allow the implementation of different imaging techniques, according to the needs of users and collaborators. The core program of the SYRMEP research team concerns the use of SR for phase-contrast mammography and aims at improving the diagnostic performance of conventional technique. For this purpose the beamline has been originally designed and a clinical facility for mammography with patients has been realized as end station of the beamline. In the experimental hutch phase sensitive techniques such as phase-contrast imaging, diffraction-enhanced imaging, with single and double crystal configuration, diffractometry, etc. can be used for both planar radiography and micro-tomography. A beam magnifier based on double system of asymmetric cut crystals and a white beam station have been also recently implemented for high resolution imaging. The group has also developed Pore3d, a software library for the processing and the quantitative analysis of large 3D image datasets produced by microtomographic scans, fulfilling the increasing requests from users. Thanks to the support of the Scientific Computing group, now the software is available also as a SaS (Software as Service) facility for external users. The seminar will present the beamline status and will give a glimpse on future research prospects and equipment upgrades.