An Image Processing System of X-ray CT Data for the Internal Structural Analysis of Geological Specimens

Abstract

A commercial medical X-ray Computerized Tomography (CT) scanner has been successfully applied to analyze the internal structure of geological specimens such as unconsolidated lake sediments, specimens before and after the physical tests.
CT images are originally reconstructed as digital data. In the case of medical diagnosis, however, the CT images have been usually printed out on X-ray films with a grey scale. Output on the X-ray films has raised the difficulty of quantitative analysis of the images.
Therefore, we have developed an digital image processing system which transfer the CT images from the medical scanner to a personal computer with MS-DOS format, and which can display the detailed structure in the specimens with a pseudocolor image. Further, processed CT images provide the quantitative information which can be used to analyze numerically the geological settings of specimens.