The piece's high density was particularly challenging, as CT imaging quality is known to suffer from artifacts, or misrepresentations of tissue structures, when looking at very dense objects. The CT technique enabled the researchers to overcome the difficulties of scanning a large portion of Tristan Otto's lower jaw called the left dentary. 'We hypothesized that DECT could potentially allow for quantitative noninvasive element-based material decomposition and thereby help paleontologists in characterizing unique fossils,' Dr. DECT deploys X-rays at two different energy levels to provide information about tissue composition and disease processes not possible with single-energy CT. Hamm and colleagues used a noninvasive approach with a clinical CT scanner and a technique called dual-energy computed tomography (DECT).

While previous fossil studies have mostly relied on invasive sampling and analysis, Dr. rex skeletons in Europe.Ĭharlie Hamm, M.D., a radiologist at Charité University Hospital in Berlin, and his colleagues recently had an opportunity to investigate a portion of the Tristan Otto's lower left jaw. It was sold to an investment banker, who dubbed it 'Tristan Otto' before loaning it out to the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in Germany. The fossilized skeleton dates back approximately 68 million years to the Late Cretaceous period. In 2010, a commercial paleontologist working in Carter County, Montana, discovered one of the most complete T. rex was a massive, carnivorous dinosaur that roamed what is now the western United States millions of years ago. A familiar subject of today's popular culture, the T.

Skull imaging