CT Scan of a Pumpkin
owl writes:
We performed a CT scan on a pumpkin, October 2016. The pumpkin was 28 cm [11 inches] in diameter, and weighed 5.9 kg [13 pounds].
If seeing this on your phone, I suggest bookmarking for viewing images later on a large screen; images on a phone may be limited.
It was scanned on a GE Revolution CT machine. The scan was performed using technique optimized for human extremities, and employed very thin slice thickness of 600 microns. The detail provided by these scans is exquisite. Why scan a pumpkin? Well, firstly, I enjoy occasionally scanning non-human things. I was also encouraged by Twitter user @Zedsquared who spontaneously asked me, "Does a CT scan of a pumpkin pick up nice patterns from the seeds?" Probably. I looked into it. A pumpkin has been scanned before, at a university in Wales. Here is a video, from 2012, moderate resolution. I decided to have a go at it as well, and thought we'd be able to produce some very good images with optimized parameters.
There are many more images at the linked site. Most appears to be color-enhanced, but extremely well done!
[NB: I was tangentially involved in an early GE research project which was investigating the feasibility of performing what were then called MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in 1980. Our first scan took about 5(?) minutes to perform. Then it took another half-hour of processing on a VAX 11/780 to generate the black&white image!--Ed.]
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