Shastry Abhishek, Palacio-Mancheno Paolo E, Braeckman Karl, Vanheule Sander, Josipovic Ivan, Van Assche Frederic, Robles Eric, Cnudde Veerle, Van Hoorebeke Luc, Boone Matthieu N
Radiation Physics Research Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, Proeftuinstraat 86/N12, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
Centre for X-ray Tomography, Ghent University, Proeftuinstraat 86/N12, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
Materials (Basel). 2018 Aug 20;11(8):1482. doi: 10.3390/ma11081482.
Recent advances in high resolution X-ray tomography (μCT) technology have enabled in-situ dynamic μCT imaging (4D-μCT) of time-dependent processes inside 3D structures, non-destructively and non-invasively. This paper illustrates the application of 4D-μCT for visualizing the removal of fatty liquids from kitchen sponges made of polyurethane after rinsing (absorption), squeezing (desorption) and cleaning (adding detergents). For the first time, time-dependent imaging of this type of system was established with sufficiently large contrast gradient between water (with/without detergent) and olive oil (model fat) by the application of suitable fat-sensitive X-ray contrast agents. Thus, contrasted olive oil filled sponges were rinsed and squeezed in a unique laboratory loading device with a fluid flow channel designed to fit inside a rotating gantry-based X-ray μCT system. Results suggest the use of brominated vegetable oil as a preferred contrast agent over magnetite powder for enhancing the attenuation coefficient of olive oil in a multi fluid filled kitchen sponge. The contrast agent (brominated vegetable oil) and olive oil were mixed and subsequently added on to the sponge. There was no disintegration seen in the mixture of contrast agent and olive oil during the cleaning process by detergents. The application of contrast agents also helped in accurately tracking the movement and volume changes of soils in compressed open cell structures. With the in house-built cleaning device, it was quantified that almost 99% of cleaning was possible for contrasted olive oil (brominated vegetable oil with olive oil) dispersed in the sponge. This novel approach allowed for realistic mimicking of the cleaning process and provided closer evaluation of the effectiveness of cleaning by detergents to minimize bacterial growth.
高分辨率X射线断层扫描（μCT）技术的最新进展使得能够对三维结构内部随时间变化的过程进行原位动态μCT成像（4D-μCT），且具有非破坏性和非侵入性。本文阐述了4D-μCT在可视化聚氨酯厨房海绵在冲洗（吸收）、挤压（解吸）和清洁（添加洗涤剂）后去除脂肪液体过程中的应用。通过应用合适的脂肪敏感型X射线造影剂，首次在水（含/不含洗涤剂）和橄榄油（模型脂肪）之间建立了具有足够大对比度梯度的此类系统的时间依赖性成像。因此，将填充有造影剂的橄榄油海绵在一个独特的实验室加载装置中进行冲洗和挤压，该装置带有一个设计用于适配基于旋转龙门架的X射线μCT系统内部的流体流动通道。结果表明，在多流体填充的厨房海绵中，与磁铁矿粉末相比，溴化植物油是增强橄榄油衰减系数的首选造影剂。将造影剂（溴化植物油）与橄榄油混合，随后添加到海绵上。在使用洗涤剂清洁过程中，造影剂和橄榄油的混合物未出现崩解现象。造影剂的应用还有助于准确跟踪压缩开孔结构中污垢的移动和体积变化。利用自制的清洁装置，定量分析了分散在海绵中的对比橄榄油（溴化植物油与橄榄油）几乎99%的清洁可能性。这种新颖的方法能够逼真地模拟清洁过程，并更深入地评估洗涤剂清洁效果以尽量减少细菌生长。
