Micro-Computed Tomography (microCT)

Our equipment can only accommodate small rodents and our imaging services are for research purposes only. Unfortunately, we cannot perform imaging on companion animals, such as cats and dogs.

The Animal Imaging and Irradiation Shared Resource (AIISR) offers animal and specimen microCT acquisitions and image analysis to CU Cancer Center member and non-members.

MicroCT is a high-resolution 3-dimensional imaging technique. The physical principle of CT is based on scattering and absorption of x-rays by tissues based on their electron density. There are essentially three levels of attenuation yielding color-coded contrast in CT: air (black), soft tissue (grey shades) and bone (white). Disseminated tumors to the bone and lung are easily detected by microCT in the range of 5-10 microns resolution.

Facility:

The PerkinElmer Quantum GX2 microCT scanner was installed at CU Anschutz in August 2020, from a successful NIH S10 Shared Instrumentation for Animal Research (SIFAR) grant.

Protocols:

High-resolution 3D CT on tumor volumes and metastases detections (in-vivo)
High-resolution specimen CT (ex-vivo)
Breath-gated in vivo lung CT
Quantitative bone density and trabecular bone analysis (in-vivo and ex-vivo)
Quantitative body composition analysis (fat content)

Schedule a Service:

Small Animal Imaging or Specimen Imaging

To schedule a consultation for animal or specimen CT based studies and study design please contact Natalie Serkova, PhD.
To schedule a CT imaging appointment please follow these instructions for new ilab users, service requests, and equipment reservations.
You must have an approved IACUC protocol. Please contact the AIISR for the instructions, SOPs, and pre-approval of CT studies to your IACUC protocol. Please visit the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for more information.