Welcome to the Amira-Avizo Software Use Case Gallery

3D loess microstructure of loess, including skeleton particles as well as inter-particle bonding structures, was characterized through a correlative approach using μXCT and FIB-SEM

Loess, a Quaternary wind-blown deposit, is a problem soil that gives rise to frequent geohazards such as landslides and water-induced subsidence. The behavior of loess is controlled by its microstructure, consisting of silt sized
skeleton particles and complex bonding structures formed by clay-sized p... Read more

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) extends throughout a cell and plays a critical role in maintaining cellular homeostasis.
Changes in ER shape could provide a clue to explore the mechanisms that underlie the fate determination of neurons after
axon injury because the ER drastically changes its morphology under neuronal stress to maintain cellular homeostasis and
recover from damage. Because of their tiny structures and richness in the soma, the detailed morphology of the ER and... Read more

In this study, the researchers investigated the compressive failure mechanisms in flax fiber composites, a promising eco-friendly alternative to synthetic composite materials, through both numerical simulations and experimental analysis. They examined the reasons behind the low compressive strength in comparison to tensile strength, focusing on the compressive-to-tensile strength ratio. A novel thermodynamically consistent continuum damage micromechanics model was introduced to capture the ev... Read more

This study provides a comprehensive review of tortuosity and its impact on the transport properties of porous media. It discusses the classical theories and equations related to tortuosity for flow, conduction, and diffusion. The study also highlights the evolution of these theories and their connection to methodologies such as tomography and 3D image analysis. In order to clarify the topic, a new classification scheme and nomenclature for different types of tortuosity are proposed. The study... Read more

The research focuses on the fiber behavior following injection molding on a spiral-flow mold, particularly its fiber orientation behavior. The behavior of the glass fiber will be examined by altering key experiment settings, the screw speed and the back pressure, and employing different melt paths. The results show that the application of high back pressure and high screw speed decreased the fiber length but successfully increased the fiber orientation average to the flow direction. The desig... Read more

Focused-ion beam-scanning electron microscopic (FIB-SEM) tomography enables easier acquisition of a series of ultrastructural, sectional images directly from resin-embedded biological samples. In this study, to clarify the three-dimensional (3D) architecture of glomerular endothelial cells (GEnCs) in adult rats, we manually extracted GEnCs from serial FIB-SEM images and reconstructed them on an Amira reconstruction software. The luminal and basal surface structures were clearly visualized in ... Read more

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful and versatile technique for materials characterization and present in many laboratories. The integration of an X-ray target holder and detector allows expanding the modalities of SEM by X-ray imaging. These little hardware adaptations enable radiography ... Read more

In recent years new methodologies and workflow pipelines for acquiring correlated fluorescence microscopy and volume electron microscopy datasets have been extensively described and made accessible to users of different levels. Post-acquisition image processing, and particularly correlation of the optical and electron data in a single integrated three-dimensional framework can be key for extracting valuable information, especially when imaging large sample volumes such as whole cells or tissu... Read more

Among natural cellular materials, pomelo peels, having a foam-like hierarchical microstructure, represent an ideal model for developing materials with high energy absorption efficiency. In this work, by combining X-ray tomographic imaging technique and digital volume correlation (DVC), in-situ stepwise uniaxial compression tests were performed to quantify the internal morphological evolution and kinematic responses of pomelo peel samples during compression.

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

Pigment distributions have a critical role in the corrosion protection properties of organic paint coatings, but they are difficult to image in 3D over statistically significant volumes and at sufficiently high spatial resolutions required for detailed analysis. Here we report, for the first time, large volume analytical serial sectioning tomography of an organic composite coating using a xenon Plasma Focused Ion Beam (PFIB) combined with secondary electron imaging, energy dispersive X-ray (E... Read more

Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels using molten salt media is an attractive alternative to liquid-liquid extraction techniques.

Pyroelectrochemical processing utilizes direct, selective, electrochemical reduction of uranium dioxide, followed by selective electroplating of a uranium metal. Thermodynamic prediction of the electrochemical reduction of UO2 to U in LiCl-KCl eutectic has shown to be a function of the oxide ion activity. The pO2 of the salt may be affected by the microstruc... Read more

Advanced nanotomographic analysis is still far from routine, and a number of challenges remain in data acquisition and post-processing. In this work, we present a number of techniques to improve the quality of the acquired data, together with easy-to-implement methods to obtain “advanced” microstructural quantifications. The techniques are applied to a solid oxide fuel cell cathode of interest to the electrochemistry community, but the methodologies are easily adaptable to a wide range of... Read more

The hot pressing process for fabricating membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) has been widely adopted, yet little is known of its effects on the microstructural properties of the different components of the MEA. In particular, the interaction of the electrolyte, electrode and gas diffusion layer (GDL) due to lamination is difficult to probe as conventional imaging techniques cannot access the internal structure of the MEA. Here, a novel approach is used, which combines characterisation of hot... Read more

The interest in potential applications produced with self-compacting fibre reinforced concrete continues to grow, but in practice, problems associated with an uneven distribution and orientation of fibres in the concrete structure occur. It is not clear what exactly influences uneven distribution of fibres in selfcompacting concrete (SCC) mixtures, especially during the casting and how different factors influence fibre orientation. The objective of this work was to investigate how rheological... Read more

Unlike white and brown adipose tissues, the bone marrow adipocyte (BMA) exists in a microenvironment containing unique populations of hematopoietic and skeletal cells.

To study this microenvironment at the subcellular level, we performed a three-dimensional analysis of the ultrastructure of the BMA niche with focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). This revealed that BMAs display hallmarks of metabolically active cells including polarized lipid deposits, a dense mitoch... Read more

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

Recent studies have identified gold nanoparticles in ores in a range of deposit types, but little is known about their formation processes. In this contribution, gold-bearing magnetite from the well-documented, world-class Beiya Au deposit, China, was investigated in terms of microstructure and crystallography at the nanoscale. We present the first three-dimensional (3D) focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) tomography of the distribution of gold nanoparticles in nanopores i... Read more

A combination of 3D tomography techniques provides direct evidence that links the phase assemblage to the bio-corrosion behaviour of a magnesium-zinc-calcium (Mg-Zn-Ca) alloy. The true shape, connectivity and volume fraction of the components have been determined using focused ion beam (FIB) tomography. The mechanism of the effect of the components with different morphologies on biodegradation was studied with the help of FIB. Micro X-ray CT (MicroCT) was used to investigate the degradation o... Read more

Cortical bone is permeated by a system of pores, occupied by the blood supply and osteocytes. With ageing, bone mass reduction and disruption of the microstructure are associated with reduced vascular supply. Insight into the regulation of the blood supply to the bone could enhance the understanding of bone strength determinants and fracture healing. Using synchrotron radiation-based computed tomography, the distribution of vascular canals and osteocyte lacunae was assessed in murine cortica... Read more

The aim of the current study is to propose a versatile, non-destructive inspection strategy to evaluate the structure of two different aircraft carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) -based composite configurations, which are widely used for structural elements, respectively layered composite and sandwich structure. X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been used as a flexible method for assessment of porosity levels in CFRP components in both types of configuration, permitting to investigate th... Read more