title: Application of synchrotron-radiation-based computer microtomography (SRICT) to selected biominerals: embryonic snails, statoliths of medusae, and human teeth.
abstract: Synchrotron-radiation-based computer microtomography (SRmicroCT) was applied to three biomineralised objects First, embryonic snails of the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata, second, rhopalia (complex sense organs) of the medusa Aurelia aurita, and third, human teeth. The high absorption contrast between the soft tissue and mineralised tissues, i.e. the shell in the first case (consisting of calcium carbonate) and the statoliths in the second case (consisting of calcium sulphate hemihydrate), makes this method ideal for the study of biomineralised tissues. The objects can be non-destructively studied on a micrometre scale, and quantitative parameters like the thickness of a forming a snail shell or statolith crystal sizes can be obtained on a length scale of 1-2 mum. Using SRmicroCT, the dentin-enamel border can be clearly identified in X-ray dense teeth.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Inorganic Chemistry, University Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstrasse 5-7, 45117, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Prymak
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemann
authors.forename: Ilka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sötje
authors.forename: Julia C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Marxen
authors.forename: Arndt
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klocke
authors.forename: Bärbel
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kahl-Nieke
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.forename: Tilman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Donath
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Epple
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001700:Biomphalaria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008903:Minerals / Q000737:chemistry*; D037401:Scyphozoa / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D017356:Synchrotrons; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014070:Tooth / Q000737:chemistry / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals