Welcome to the Amira-Avizo Software Use Case Gallery
Below you will find a collection of use cases of our 3D data visualization and analysis software. These use cases include scientific publications, articles, papers, posters, presentations or even videos that show how Amira-Avizo Software is used to address various scientific and industrial research topics.
Use the Domain selector to filter by main application area, and use the Search box to enter keywords related to specific topics you are interested in.

Porous Metal–Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Performance Silicon Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries
Maintaining the physical integrity of electrode microstructures in Li-ion batteries is critical to significantly extend their cycle life. This is especially important for high-capacity anode materials such as silicon, whose operational volume expansion exerts huge internal stress within the anode, resulting in electrode destruction and capacity fade. In this study, we demonstrate that by incorporating metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with carboxylate organic linkers into Si-based anodes, a s... Read more
Romeo Malik, Melanie. J. Loveridge, Luke J. Williams, Qianye Huang, Geoff West, Paul R. Shearing, Rohit Bhagat, Richard I. Walton

Nanoporous Aluminum by Galvanic Replacement: Dealloying and Inward-Growth Plating
In aqueous solutions, electro/chemically deposited metals usually grow outward into electrolyte. Here we report that the reduced Al grows inward into the sample, surprisingly, while Mg (in pure Mg and Al2Mg3 alloy) is galvanically replaced with Al in an ionic liquid. The galvanic replacement reaction (GRR) of Al2Mg3 involves a dealloying process that generates a nanoporous Al skeleton, and simultaneously the inward-growth plating of Al that thicke... Read more
Wei Yang, Xian-Gui Zheng, Shao-Gang Wang, Hai-Jun Jin

The Fraunhofer Institute uses Avizo to explore a Peruvian mummy CT-scan
As part of the Big Picture project, researchers at Fraunhofer IIS are working on three dimensions images of objects with great precision. In order to demonstrate the progress of the project, which has begun in February 2018, they made the 3d Xray-CT acquisition of a mummy from the Linden-Museum Stuttgart collection, probably from the 11th-15th century.
Modern measurement systems are producing increasingly large volumes of extremely complex data that must be stored, processed and convert... Read more
Prof. Dr. Tomas Sauer

Biodegradable materials, such as collagen scaffolds, are used extensively in clinical medicine for tissue regeneration and/or as an implantable drug delivery vehicle. However, available methods to study biomaterial degradation are typically invasive, destructive, and/or non-volumetric. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate a new method for nondestructive, longitudinal, and volumetric measurement of collagen scaffold degradation. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were covalently ... Read more
Tyler A. Finamore, Tyler E. Curtis, James V. Tedesco, Kathryn Grandfield, Ryan K. Roeder

A unique approach to correlating an evolving 3D microstructure in an Al-Cu alloyand its micro-scale mechanical properties has been introduced. Using these nanoscale three-dimensional microstructures derived from Transmission X-rayMicroscopy (TXM), individual contributions from different strengthening mechanisms were quantified. The spatial distribution and morphology of the individual θ′ and θ phases were seen to play an important role in influencing dislocation storage. Uniaxi... Read more
C. Shashank Kaira, Christopher Kantzos, Jason J. Williams, Vincent De Andrade, Francesco De Carlo, Nikhilesh Chawlaa

Mesoscale characterization of local property distributions in heterogeneous electrodes
The performance of electrochemical devices depends on the three-dimensional (3D) distributions of microstructural features in their electrodes. Several mature methods exist to characterize 3D microstructures over the microscale (tens of microns), which are useful in understanding homogeneous electrodes. However, methods that capture mesoscale (hundreds of microns) volumes at appropriate resolution (tens of nm) are lacking, though they are needed to understand more common, less ideal electrode... Read more
Tim Hsu, William K. Epting, Rubayyat Mahbub, Noel T. Nuhfer, Sudip Bhattachary, Yinkai Lei, Herbert M. Miller, Paul R. Ohodnicki, Kirk R. Gerdes, Harry W. Abernathy, Gregory A. Hackett, Anthony D. Rollett, Marc De Graef, Shawn Litster, Paul A. Salvador

Laser processing of metal surfaces by ultrafast Read more
Edwin Peng, Alexander Roth, Craig A. Zuhlke, Soodabeh Azadehranjbar, Dennis R. Alexander, George Gogos, Jeffrey E. Shield

The complex mechanical response of open-cell foams depends strongly on the hierarchy of length scales inherent in them, from engineering-part scale to the ligament scale through the grain scale down to the crystal-lattice scale. A first step toward understanding and predicting the coordinated mechanical response across le... Read more
Jayden C. Plumb, Jonathan F. Lind, Joseph C. Tucker, Ron Kelley, Ashley D. Spear

Automated 3D EBSD for metallic powders
Metallic powders are commonly used in additive manufacturing processes. While their post-process consolidated properties are widely studied, there is little research on the properties of the powders prior to consolidation. Understanding the powder characteristics before use in additive manufacturing processes could lead to fine-tuning properties of additively manufactured materials. The three-dimensional grain structure of metals can be useful in predicting their properties and ... Read more
Caitlin Walde, Roger Ristau, Danielle Cote

Metal-organic frameworks tailor the properties of aluminum nanocrystals
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and metal nanoparticles are two classes of materials that have received considerable recent attention, each for controlling chemical reactivities, albeit in very different ways. Here, we report the growth of MOF shell layers surrounding aluminum nanocrystals (Al NCs), an Earth-abundant metal with energetic, plasmonic, and photocatalytic properties. The MOF shell growth proceeds by means of dissolution-and-growth chemistry that uses the intrinsic surface oxide o... Read more
Hossein Robatjazi, Daniel Weinberg, Dayne F. Swearer, Christian Jacobson, Ming Zhang, Shu Tian, Linan Zhou, Peter Nordlander, Naomi J. Halas

Aging of a Pt/Al2O3 exhaust gas catalyst monitored by quasi in situ X-ray micro computed tomography
Catalyst aging effects were analyzed using X-ray absorption micro-computed tomography in combination with conventional characterization methods on various length scales ranging from nm to μm to gain insight into deactivation mechanisms.
For this purpose, a 4 wt% Pt/Al2O3 model exhaust gas catalyst was coated on a cordierite honeycomb and subjected to sequential thermal aging in static air at 950 °C for 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours. The ag... Read more
Georg Hofmann, Amélie Rochet, Elen Ogel, Maria Casapu, Stephan Ritter, Malte Ogurreck and Jan-Dierk Grunwaldt

Characterization of the Interface Between Coating and Fibrous Layers of Paper
Coated paper is an example of a multi-layer porous medium, involving a coating layer along the two surfaces of the paper and a fibrous layer in the interior of the paper. The interface between these two media needs to be characterized in order to develop relevant modeling tools. After careful cutting of the paper, a cross section was imaged using focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy. The resulting image was analyzed to characterize the coating layer and its transition to the fibrous ... Read more
H. Aslannejad, S. M. Hassanizadeh, M. A. Celia

The development of focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) techniques has allowed high-resolution 3D imaging of nanometre-scale porous materials. These systems are of important interest to the oil and gas sector, as well as for the safe long-term storage of carbon and nuclear waste. This work focuses on validating the accurate representation of sample pore space in FIB-SEM-reconstructed volumes and the predicted permeability of these systems from subsequent single-phase flow s... Read more
Department of Chemical Engineering, Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre, Imperial College London | Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Cambridge University

Despite the importance of studying the instability of delithiated cathode materials, it remains difficult to underpin the degradation mechanism of lithium-rich cathode materials due to the complication of combined chemical and structural evolutions. Herein, we use state-of-the-art electron microscopy tools, in conjunction with synchrotron X-ray techniques and first-principle calculations to study a 4d-element-containing compound, Li2Ru0.5Mn0.5O3. We find surprisingly, after cycling, ruthenium... Read more
Lin, Ruoqian AU - Hu, Enyuan AU - Liu, Mingjie AU - Wang, Yi AU - Cheng, Hao AU - Wu, Jinpeng AU - Zheng, Jin-Cheng AU - Wu, Qin AU - Bak, Seongmin AU - Tong, Xiao AU - Zhang, Rui AU - Yang, Wanli AU - Persson, Kristin A. AU - Yu, Xiqian AU - Yang, Xiao-Qing AU - Xin, Huolin L. PY

Visualizing the Carbon Binder Phase of Battery Electrodes in Three Dimensions
This study presents a technique to directly characterize the carbon and binder domain (CBD) in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery electrodes in three dimensions and use it to determine the effective transport properties of a LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 (NMC) electrode. X-ray nanocomputed tomography (nano-CT) is used to image an electrode composed solely of carbon and binder, whereas focused ion beam–scanning electron microscopy is used to analyze cross-sect... Read more
Sohrab R. Daemi, Chun Tan, Tobias Volkenandt, Samuel J. Cooper, Anna Palacios-Padros, James Cookson, Dan J. L. Brett, and Paul R. Shearing

Spatially resolved ultrasound diagnostics of Li-ion battery electrodes
The importance of reliable battery diagnostic systems has grown substantially in recent years as a result of the use of high power Li-ion battery packs in an increasingly diverse range of applications. Here, spatially resolved ultrasound acoustic measurements are used to analyse the condition of Li-ion electrodes. Ultrasonic measurements are performed on a commercial mobile phone battery over the full operating voltage window with the lithiation and delithiation of electrodes o... Read more
James B. Robinson, Maximilian Maier , George Alster , Tomos Compton , Dan J. L. Brett and Paul R. Shearing

Structure of the Ty3/Gypsy retrotransposon capsid and the evolution of retroviruses
Retroviruses evolved from long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons by acquisition of envelope functions, and subsequently reinvaded host genomes. Together, endogenous retroviruses and LTR retrotransposons represent major components of animal, plant, and fungal genomes. Sequences from these elements have been exapted to perform essential host functions, including placental development, synaptic communication, and transcriptional regulation. They encode a Gag polypeptide, the capsid domains ... Read more
Svetlana O. Dodonova, Simone Prinz, Virginia Bilanchone, Suzanne Sandmeyer, and John A. G. Briggs

As key functional units in neural circuits, different types of neuronal synapses play distinct roles in brain information processing, learning, and memory. Synaptic abnormalities are believed to underlie various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Here, by combining cryo-electron tomography and cryo-correlative light and electron microscopy, we distinguished intact excitatory and inhibitory synapses of cultured hippocampal neurons, and visualized the in situ 3D organization of ... Read more
Chang-Lu Tao, Yun-Tao Liu, Rong Sun, Bin Zhang, Lei Qi, Sakar Shivakoti, Chong-Li Tian, Peijun Zhang, Pak-Ming Lau, Z. Hong Zhou and Guo-Qiang Bi

Corpora amylacea are cell-derived structures that appear physiologically in the aged human brain. While their histological identification is straightforward, their ultrastructural composition and microenvironment at the nanoscale have remained unclear so far, as has their relevance to aging and certain disease states that involve the sequestration of toxic cellular metabolites. Here, we apply correlative serial block-face scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron tomograp... Read more
Paula P. Navarro, Christel Genoud, Daniel Castaño-Díez, Alexandra Graff-Meyer, Amanda J. Lewis, Yvonne de Gier, Matthias E. Lauer, Markus Britschgi, Bernd Bohrmann, Stephan Frank, Jürgen Hench, Gabriel Schweighauser, Annemieke J. M. Rozemuller, Wilma D. J. van de Berg, Henning Stahlberg & Sarah H. Shahmoradian

Novel Sulfolobus Virus with an Exceptional Capsid Architecture
A novel archaeal virus, denoted Sulfolobus ellipsoid virus 1 (SEV1), was isolated from an acidic hot spring in Costa Rica. The morphologically unique virion of SEV1 contains a protein capsid with 16 regularly spaced striations and an 11-nm-thick envelope. The capsid exhibits an unusual architecture in which the viral DNA, probably in the form of a nucleoprotein filament, wraps around the longitudinal axis of the virion in... Read more
Haina Wang, Zhenqian Guo, Hongli Feng, Yufei Chen, Xiuqiang Chen, Zhimeng Li, Walter Hernández-Ascencio, Xin Dai, Zhenfeng Zhang, Xiaowei Zheng, Marielos Mora-López, Yu Fu, Chuanlun Zhang, Ping Zhu, Li Huang

3D visualization and deep-learning reveal complex parasite networks in behaviorally manipulated ants
Microbial parasites may behave collectively to manipulate their host’s behavior. We examine adaptations of a microbial parasite in its natural environment: the body of its coevolved and manipulated host.
Electron microscopy and 3D reconstructions of host and parasite tissues reveal that this fungus invades muscle fibers throughout the ant’s body but leaves the brain intact, and that the fungal cells connect to form extensive networks.
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Maridel A. Fredericksena, Yizhe Zhangb, Missy L. Hazenc, Raquel G. Loretoa,d, Colleen A. Mangoldd,e, Danny Z. Chenb, and David P. Hughes, Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University