Mummies give some challenging secrets to their pasts , like thefood they ateand thediseases they hadwhen they were animated . Now scientist are using a creature originally designed for medicine to get an even deeper face at the clues dry up bodies deport with them into the present Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , Gizmodoreports .
In a trial impression - of - construct discipline print in the journalRadiology , researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden detail how a Modern - and - improved CT scan proficiency can be used to figure the DoI of mummies on a microscopical level . By make elaborate X - ray epitome , CT scans allow MD to see inside their patients without trespassing operating theatre . archaeologist have been using this technology to study delicate ancient artifactsfor years , but the level of detail that can be achieve this way — specially when it amount to looking at interior soft tissue — is limited .
The upgraded version of the tech , called phase angle - dividing line CT scanning , measure out the phase sack , or the change in the position of a light undulation , that happens when X - rays top through solid target . The images generated this way have a high direct contrast level than schematic X - rays , which means they capture more detail .
Dr. have been using this 10 - yr - old technology to examine soft tissues like organs and vein in living patients , but it had n’t been used on a mummy until late . Working with a mummified man right hand dating back to 400 BCE in Egypt , which they borrowed from the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm , the researchers fired up a phase - contrast CT image scanner . It produced double with a resolution of 6 to 9 microns , giving a clear pictorial matter of the different layers of skin , individual cells in the connective tissue paper , and the blood vessels in the nail bed — all without damaging the artefact . Previously , researchers looking to study these same tissue paper in mummies would have needed to use a scalpel .
AsArs Technicareports , a stage - contrast CT digital scanner is similar in cost to the schematic machine . The study authors hope their body of work will direct to stage - demarcation CT scanning becoming just as rough-cut in archaeology as regular CT scanning , potentially make new research opportunities in mummies that will be discovered in the future and even in artifacts that have already been examine .
[ h / tGizmodo ]
