For seven years, a CT scanner at the University of Michigan has been working nearly non-stop, housed within a specialized lab at the University of Michigan Research Museums Center. This high-tech machine has scanned an astonishing 10,000 specimens, from snakes and lizards to mammals and even insects. Researchers use the cutting-edge microCT scanner to non-invasively capture detailed scans by concentrating X-rays in 360-degree rotating rotations to generate 3D images of animals’ internal structures, including the skeleton, circulatory system, and nervous tissue.

“In the world of museums, one of the core missions is the preservation of these specimens for long-term care, long-term research in perpetuity for uses that we can’t necessarily predict,” said lab manager Ramon Nagesan.

The 10,000th scanned specimen was a wolverine skull, collected in British Columbia in 1948. By enriching scientific research using digital data with anatomical slices translated through a metal plate that rotates during the scanning process without damaging the specimens, museums are enhancing their capabilities to delve deeper into their collections. The wolverine skull is part of the U-M Museum of Zoology’s extensive specimen collection, which, along with other materials, stretches beyond the campus and into a research center holding more than 20 million specimens. The scans produced by the scanner ensure the specimens can be studied and preserved without physically damaging them, which is an incredible advancement.

Cutting-Edge Technology in Conservation

Like a medical CT scanner, the microCT scanner uses X-rays but with much higher resolution. The term “micro” in microCT refers to the microscopic level of detail captured, ranging from about 1 to 150 microns—akin to the clarity of a cube smaller than a grain of sand. Unlike a medical CT scanner, which operates at about 650 microns, a microCT scanner can capture 3D models of microscopic features, offering unprecedented detail for both present and future environmental studies.

Lab technician Haley Martens explains that, while the technology might sound complex, each scan is meticulously controlled by a computer program she tunes to achieve the desired level of detail before processing and reconstructing the images. Researchers can capture anatomical images from skeletal fragments to tiny soft tissue details. “Working in the CT lab is an incredible learning experience, as I am constantly gaining knowledge on the species I am scanning, as well as the technology I am working with. Every week poses new and exciting challenges, from scanning cordyceps fungus in insects to large reticulated pythons, Roman glass vessels, and even living leaves.”

Since 2022, the lab has conducted over 10,000 scans for an initiative called the Open Vertebrate Thematic Collections Network (oVert), funded by the National Science Foundation, which has produced a digital archive of CT scans from approximately 20,000 fluid-preserved vertebrates. With project proposals constantly coming in from around the country, the lab continues full-speed ahead. Other major universities and research institutions across the U.S. have joined in using this breakthrough in specialized imaging, drawing parallels between sworn reliances on vital research data without damaging components.

“We are trying to grow because fundamentally, our ability to learn from the past and how we are changing biodiversity into the future absolutely requires that we keep recording what biodiversity looks like today,” said Hernán López-Fernández, director of the Museum of Zoology.

Implications for Environmental Science and Research

With rapid advancements in digitization, science has evolved to need far fewer physical samples and a great deal more rigorous documentation. Hence, technologies like the microCT scanner serve biologists and zoologists as essential tools – whether from coast-to-coast or specific locales like the dormant wildlife corridors of the ever-changing landscapes in Montana, to the rapid environmental shifts of the marsh ecosystems of Florida. It offers important insights into the behavior and life cycles of myriad species, allowing for nuanced comparisons across regions and ecosystems.

A key application is its availability – When the specimens are scanned, images are uploaded to the lab’s online repository. When researchers request scans or 3D printed model files, they can readily access them through the online system, promoting collaboration across institutions and the scientific community. By examining an anatomy reconstruction, researchers are not only simply aware of how organisms function but indeed recognize various evolutionary signatures found in the sample repertoire of National Archives and sample collections at museums.

Although its oVert initiative launched by the National Science Foundation remains an instrumental initiative, museums globally still remain crucial in data aggregation and distribution despite shifting technological paradigms. Evolutionary biologists and taxonomists will utilize the incremental archive by collaborating with science rookies, museums facilitate broadened research scopes and multimedia-enabled educational environments. Henceforth, the advantage of such robust advancements equips conservationists, environmental lawyers to offer formulates and legislate protective policies ensuring future environmental safeguards through collections managed and protected as priceless national assets.

The Milestone Achievements forethought reinforcing an era, sets new benchmarks for upcoming methodologies giving a new framework paving the way for enhancing documentations – safeguarding untouched terrain advocating an even broader scope of an inclusive digital documentation, thus allowing upcoming scholars fresh perspectives and interplay of ingenious advances helping future cones revived.