American Mineralogist, Volume 90, pages 132–142, 2005

Quantitative evaluation of attenuation contrast of X-ray computed tomography images
using monochromatized beams
AKIRA TSUCHIYAMA,1,* KENTARO UESUGI,2 TSUKASA NAKANO,3 AND SUSUMU IKEDA4
1
Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, 560-0043, Japan
SPring-8/Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Mikazuki, Hyogo Prefecture, 679-5198 Japan
3
Geological Survey of Japan/National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, 305-8567 Japan
4
Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha 5-1-5,
Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8561, Japan
2

ABSTRACTA quantitative relation between the linear attenuation coefÞcient (LAC) obtained by Synchrotron
Radiation X-ray computed tomography (observed LAC) and the theoretically calculated LAC (theoretical LAC) of standard materials (minerals and metals) has been obtained for an X-ray microtomographic
system at BL20B2 of SPring-8, Japan. This system, called SP-μCT, uses highly monochromatized andwell-collimated X-ray beams produced by a synchrotron radiation source. Three-dimensional images
were obtained for samples 0.4–4 mm in size at X-ray energies of 15–35 keV with a voxel size of 5.83
× 5.83 × 5.83 μm3. A histogram of the observed LAC for each sample was well-Þtted by a Gaussian
curve except for heavy metals whose X-ray transmittance was insufÞcient. The contrast resolution of
CT images is best (within 5% of the LAC value) at LACs of about 10–30 cm–1. A garnet schist was
imaged with SP-μCT to verify the observed–theoretical LAC relation for minerals contained in a rocksample. The result was consistent with the relation obtained for the standards. The CT and back-scatteredelectron images of the rock sample were compared. The present results put restrictions on discrimination of mineral phases and estimation of chemical compositions (e.g., Mg/Fe ratio) of certain minerals
forming solid solutions based on CT values. The present quantitative relationship between observed
and theoretical LACs enables us to obtain an absolute elemental concentration map by imaging justabove and below the X-ray absorption edge energy of the element (subtraction method).

INTRODUCTION
X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a non-destructive
method that provides cross-sectional images (CT images) of
objects using X-ray attenuation. A CT image is expressed as a
spatial distribution of so-called CT values, which correspondto the X-ray linear attenuation coefÞcient (LAC) of a material
obtained by tomographic reconstruction. Three-dimensional (3D) internal structures can be obtained by stacking successive CT
images. The X-ray CT technique originally was developed for
medical diagnosis (HounsÞeld 1973; Ambrose et al. 1973). This
technique has been applied to other Þelds including earth andplanetary material science (e.g., Ketcham and Carlson 2001).
Industrial and sometimes medical CT scanners have been used
for earth and planetary materials: metamorphic rocks (e.g., Carlson and Denison 1992; Denison et al. 1997), sedimentary rocks(e.g., Wellington and Vineger 1987), igneous rocks (Philpotts
et al. 1999; Ikeda et al. 2000), and meteorites (e.g., Arnold etal. 1993; Benedix et al. 2003). In recent years, high-resolution
CT scanners with a spatial resolution greater than a few tens of
micrometers have been used to analyze Þne structures, such asßuid inclusions in minerals (Nakashima et al. 1997), sigmoidal
garnets in a metamorphic rock (Ikeda et al. 2002), and microstructures of chondritic meteorites (Kondo et al. 1997).
*E-mail: akira@ess.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp0003-004X/05/0001–132$05.0010.2138/am.2005.1552

132

A synchrotron radiation (SR) source provides tunable, monochromatized, and naturally collimated (parallel) X-ray beams thathave many advantages for CT (Flannery et al. 1987; Bonse andBusch 1996). Monochromatized beams eliminate beam hardening, which causes CT image artifacts, and thus permit CT values
to relate quantitatively to LACs. Furthermore, collimated beams
readily yield 3-D images with high spatial resolution. Hirano
et al. (1990) applied a SR microtomographic system at the
Photon Factory in Japan to a meteorite sample, although they
were unable to obtain 3-D images because they used a linear
X-ray detector.
Uesugi et al. (1999, 2001) have developed an X-ray microtomographic system, named SP-μCT, using SR at SPring-8. The
effective spatial resolutions of this system are about 13 μm at
BL20B2 for samples smaller than 5 mm in diameter (Uesugi
et al. 1999) and about 1.5 μm at BL47XU for samples smaller
than 0.45 mm in diameter (Uesugi et al. 2001). SP-μCT has been
applied to earth and planetary materials: chondrules and chondrites (Tsuchiyama et al. 2003a,b; Kusaka et al. 2001; Kitamura
et al. 2003), micrometeorites (Tsuchiyama et al. 2001, 2003),
symplectite in a peridotite (Morishita et al. 2003) and sands(Matsushima et al. 2004). 3-D element images were obtainedby imaging objects just above and below the X-ray absorption
edge energy of an element (the so-called “subtraction” method:e.g., Thompson et al. 1984) for Fe in a micrometeorite (Tsuchiyama et al. 2001) and Cs in a Cs-doped partially molten granite

TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST(Ikeda et al. 2004). Other SR microtomographic systems havealso been applied to Earth and planetary samples: e.g., by Rivers
et al. (1999), Hertz et al. (2003), and Murray et al. (2003) at theAdvanced Photon Source (APS) of Argonne National Laboratory, and by Lemelle et al. (2004) at the European Synchrotron
Radiation Facility (ESRF).
The relationship between the CT value and LAC is notstraightforward in almost all of the commercial X-ray CT scanners, where polychromatic X-ray beams are used. This is mainly
due to the beam hardening effect, where the energy distribution
spectra of the beams are modiÞed through absorption as lowerenergy X-rays are absorbed more strongly than higher-energy
ones (Denison et al. 1997). Moreover, the term “CT value” hasbeen used ambiguously in many cases. In particular, values thatare modiÞed by some correction in the reconstruction procedures
are usually used as CT values (in addition, the correction method
is usually not described). Such “ambiguous” CT values merely
give relative values in an arbitrary unit.
Some quantitative relations between CT values and LAC wereobtained under certain constraints to within a certain error marginusing speciÞc medical CT scanners for objects having LACs
close to that of water (McCullough et al. 1974; McCullough
1975) and minerals (Tsuchiyama et al. 2000). Nakano et al.
(1997) examined the relation between CT value and density
using an industrial CT scanner with a high-energy X-ray source(3 MeV) for minerals and related materials. Tsuchiyama et al.
(2002) quantiÞed the relationship between CT value and LAC
of minerals using an industrial high-resolution CT scanner forminerals with an accelerating voltage of 50–65 kV. They embedded samples within a silicon powder in a cylindrical container toreduce the beam hardening effect and calculated normalized CT
values with an olivine standard of known chemical composition.
However, the relation was scattered, especially for large LACs,
mainly due to the inevitable beam hardening effect.
When monochromatic X-rays are used, beam hardening
does not occur and, ideally, the CT value should be identical to
LAC. However, they may not be exactly the same due to some
non-ideality in an actual CT system. If we can quantify the relation between the two, we should be able to estimate materials,
such as mineral species, from their CT values because LAC is afunction of the chemical composition and the density of a material at a given X-ray energy. In addition, the concentration ofan element can in some cases be obtained quantitatively by thesubtraction method. Hirano et al. (1989, 1990) established therelation between CT value and LAC for certain standard materials
at the Photon factory. However, their results only apply undera limited set of imaging conditions. Moreover, their CT values
have an arbitrary unit. By contrast, the CT value provided by the
tomographic reconstruction program used at SPring-8 directly
estimates LAC. Thus, hereafter, the CT values in the present
study, or LAC derived from tomographic reconstructions, will
be called “observed LAC,” whereas theoretically calculated LAC
will be called “theoretical LAC.”
In this study, the quantitative relation between observed andtheoretical LACs has been obtained in a wide range of conditions
by imaging standard materials of minerals and metals with SPμCT at BL20B2 of SPring-8. A rock sample (garnet schist) was
also imaged to verify the observed–theoretical LAC relation for133

minerals contained in a single sample. A back-scattered electron(BSE) image of a section of the rock was compared with the corresponding CT image. Although the observed–theoretical LAC
relation obtained in this study is applicable only to SP-μCT at
BL20B2, the present method for calibrating CT values or observed LAC is applicable to any X-ray CT system that utilizes
monochromatic beams.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Standard samples and their imaging conditions are summarized in Table 1.
The samples are single crystals of synthesized quartz, natural quartzite, high-purity
amorphous silica, silica glass, and metal wires (Al, V, Ti, Fe and Ni). To evaluate
an observed LAC, which is affected by the presence of the surrounding materials,
some samples were embedded in Si or amorphous silica powder inside a cylindricalcontainer of a plastic straw (about 4 mm in diameter).
Samples were imaged with SP-μCT at BL20B2 of SPring-8 (Uesugi et al.
1999). SP-μCT is composed of an X-ray source, a sample stage, and an X-ray beam
monitor (Fig. 1). BL20B2 is a bending magnet beamline producing monochromatic
X-rays with a ßux density of ~1 × 109 photons/s/mm2/100mA and narrow energy
band pass (ΔE/E < 10–3, where E is the photon energy) by an Si (311) double-crystal
monochromator (Goto et al. 2001). In some cases, the monochromator is detuned
to reduce the effect of harmonics. In this study, however, the monochromator was
not detuned because the harmonics detected in the absorption curves of a 3.5 μm
thick Gd2O2S plate were small throughout a wide range of X-ray energies. Imagesof transmitted X-ray intensities through a sample were taken at X-ray energies of
15 to 35 keV by rotating the sample by 180 degrees with a rotational step angle of
1 to 0.125 degrees (180 to 1440 projections). Images of direct X-ray beams were
measured with no sample for every ten transmitted images to correct for time
decay of the X-ray intensity. Dark current of the detector system was measured
before and after the CT measurement for correction of the images. All images wereobtained by an X-ray detector, where the X-ray was transformed into visible lightby a ßuorescent screen (powder Gd2O2S:Tb, about 10 μm thick), expanded by arelay lens (× 2) and subsequently detected by a cooled CCD camera (1000 × 1018
pixels; pixel size = 12 μm × 12 μm) with a dynamic range of 14 bits. The sample
and ßuorescent screen were positioned as close together as possible (5–6 mm) to
avoid X-rays refracted by the sample. Imaging required 1 to 5 h depending on the
X-ray energy and sample size. After the standard pre-processing of raw X-ray
intensities and their logarithm conversions, CT images (1000 × 1000 pixels in fullimages) were reconstructed by a convolution back-projection algorithm (Nakano
et al. 1997, 2000) with a Cheslerʼs type convolution Þlter (Chesler and Riederer
1975). Nakano et al. (2000) carried out a systematic test for the computer programused in SP-μCT using simulated projection data, which were calculated from given
LACs and sample shapes, and showed that the program can reconstruct the correct LACs except for a few pixel layers at the sample edges. 3-D structures werereconstructed by stacking 100–600 slice images. The size of each voxel (pixel in3-D) in the 3-D images was 5.83 μm × 5.83 μm × 5.83 μm, and the effective spatial
resolution was about 13 μm (Uesugi et al. 1999).
To verify the observed–theoretical LAC relation in a rock sample, a schistfrom Scotland containing sigmoidal garnet porphyloblasts (sample no. 80904 of
Ikeda et al. 2002) was imaged using conditions similar to those employed for the
standard samples. The sample was cut into a cylindrical shape (4.5 mm in diameterand 3.9 mm in height) to reduce CT image artifacts. The X-ray energy was 30 keV
and the rotational step angle was 0.5 degrees (360 projections). The 3-D image
was obtained from 700 slices. After imaging, the sample was cut, polished, andsectioned. The polished thin section was observed under a JEOL JSM-5510LV
scanning electron microscope (SEM) at Osaka University.

Calculation of LAC
The theoretical linear attenuation coefÞcient (LAC), μ, of a sample was calculated using the following equation (e.g., McCullough 1975):µ = ρ∑ wi τ i ( E )(1)iwhere ρ is the bulk density, wi is the weight fraction of the i-th element, and τi isthe mass attenuation coefÞcient (MAC) of the i-th element, which is a functionof the photon energy, E. The values of ρ were adopted from references (see Table
1) except for the amorphous silica sphere and silica glass. These densities were
measured by the buoyancy method with a balance (Sartorius MC1AC-MC). The
procedure was the same as that followed by Tsuchiyama et al. (2000). MAC val-

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TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRASTTABLE 1. Imaging conditions and results for standard samples
Imaging no. Energy
keV
001031a001031b001031c001031d010213b010213c
010213c-1§
010213c-2§
010213c-3§010213d010214c
010214b010227f
010214e

20
20
20
20
20
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
15

Expodure
No. oftime
projection
s/projection
8
360
8
360
8
360
4
360
5
720
8
1440
8
720
8
360
8
180
8
720
7
720
7
720
10
450
4
180

SampleShapealuminumaluminumaluminumaluminumaluminum
quartz||quartz||quartz||quartz||quartz||quartz||quartzite#
quartzite#
amorphoussilicasilica glass
silica glass
silica glass
silica glass
vanadiumtitan
iron
nickelnickel

wire
wire
wire
wire
wire
rod
rod
rod
rod
piece
piece**rod
rod
sphereSize* Peak Characteristic Normalized Theoretical Density†γ‡
residue, R
LAC, μ,ρ, g/cm3
mm position width, Δfp,
fp, cm–1
cm–1
cm–1
5
8.240
0.80810.04939.287
2.698 0.8872
2
8.354
0.36000.00719.287
2.698 0.8995
1
8.370
0.33580.00959.287
2.698 0.9012
0.5
8.305
0.49500.01609.287
2.698 0.8942
2
8.234
0.33290.00489.287
2.698 0.8866
4
3.209
0.25530.00253.663
2.648 0.8763
43.208
0.29000.00293.663
2.648 0.8758
4
3.207
0.35990.0051
3.663
2.648 0.8757
4
3.191
0.41060.01383.663
2.648 0.8714~3×2×1 3.051
0.30200.00403.663
2.648 0.8331~3×2×1 3.143
0.44260.00433.663
2.648 0.8582
4
3.290
0.31250.0051
3.663
2.648 0.8983
4
3.327
0.35560.00653.663
2.648 0.9083
2
11.1030.62720.020812.7422.199 0.8714

Δγ0.08700.03880.0362
0.05330.03580.06970.0792
0.09830.11210.08250.12080.08530.09710.0492010531e
25
10
360
rod
4
2.778
0.27620.00703.046
2.201 0.9120 0.0907
010531f
25
10
360
piece
~2×1×1 2.679
0.28550.01093.046
2.201 0.8794 0.0937
010531g
25
10360
piece**~2×1×1 2.788
0.52540.01613.046
2.201 0.9151 0.1725
010531h25
9360
piece††~2×1×1 2.707
0.33650.01203.046
2.201 0.8887 0.1105
010227d
35
25
360
wire
1
18.136
0.94890.031321.9616.110 0.8258 0.0432
010227a
30
16
180
wire
1
18.593
1.15260.035022.573
4.540 0.8237 0.0511
010214d
35
20
360
wire
0.5 33.080
2.25350.067041.6257.874 0.7947 0.0541
010227b
30
14
360
wire
0.4 61.095
13.0366
0.166592.0478.910 0.6637 0.1416
010227c
35
25
360
wire
0.4 45.293
4.34290.066059.5928.910 0.7600 0.0729* Diameters of wire, rod, and shpere.
† Measured for amorphous silica and silica glass; Emsley (1991) for Al, V and Ti; Olhoeft and Johnson (1989) for quartz, Fe and Ni.
‡ CT value/LAC (fp/μ).
§ CT images obtained for diﬀerent numbers of projection from one imaging experiment with 1440 projections (010213c) by thinning out some projections.
|| Synthesized by hydrothermal method.
# From a Ryoke metamorphic zone (Sakuraiji, Nukata, Aichi Prefecture, Japan).
** Embeded in silicon powder.
†† Embeded in amorphous silica powder.

RESULTS
Standard materials

FIGURE 1. A schematic of the microtomographic system at BL20B2of SPring-8 (SP-μCT) used in the present experiments.

ues for elements were used that include photoelectric absorption and elastic andCompton scatterings, as tabulated by Hubble and Seltzer (1996).

Image analysis procedure
Observed LACs in CT images were originally reconstructed as ßoating point
numbers. They were converted to 8-bit values for image analysis in 3-D. In the
CT images for the standards, the values of observed LAC corresponding to thetheoretical LACs of air (0 cm–1) and the sample were converted to values showing
a brightness of 0 and 200 in the 8-bit image, respectively. Original software named
SLICE was used for the image analysis. There are several commercial software
packages for 3-D image analysis but their functions are insufÞcient for the speciÞc
purposes of the present study. SLICE is composed of a set of commands processing
a 3-D image (successive TIFF Þles) under the UNIX operating system.
Sample regions of the standards were extracted by threshold and erosion operations. The median value of the theoretical LACs of air and the sample was adopted
as the threshold. The extracted object was eroded by one voxel layer to eliminate
blurring with the adjacent air. Minor changes in the values of the threshold and thenumber of eliminated voxel layers virtually did not affect the results of the image
analysis on the observed LACs and further discussion. The sample region was
manually selected when the samples were embedded in powders.

Figure 2 shows examples of CT images. No beam hardening
artifacts were seen and the brightness was almost even for the
homogeneous samples in most of the CT images (e.g., Fig. 2a).
However, for some samples, where the X-ray beam was nottransmitted sufÞciently, the images were noisy and the sample
edge was brighter than the interior (Fig. 2b). Faint rings, anothertype of CT image artifact, were observed (e.g., Figs. 2a, 2e, and
2f). When a single crystal was imaged, Bragg diffraction occurred
over the whole sample at certain angles during sample rotation.
This caused parallel sets of streaks in CT images (Fig. 2c). Grainboundaries were not observed in natural quartzite, where thegrain size is on the order of a few hundred micrometers (Fig. 2d).
This sample contains small inclusions of heavy minerals (whitespots in Fig. 2d: probably opaque minerals like magnetite) andvoids (black dots in Fig. 2d). A silica glass sample embedded
in amorphous silica powder (Fig. 2e) is compared with one thathas not been embedded (Fig. 2f).
To determine the characteristic value of observed LAC foreach sample, a frequency distribution diagram, or histogram, ofobserved LAC for each set of 3-D images was constructed (Fig.
3). In this histogram, observed LACs at the peaks, fp, ~0 cm–1
and >0 cm–1 correspond to air and the sample, respectively. The
histogram of the extracted sample is well Þtted by a Gaussian
curve for most of the samples with sufÞcient X-ray transmittance(Figs. 3a and 3c−3f):

TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST

135

FIGURE 3. Histograms of observed LAC, f, for 3-D images of thestandard materials. The samples are the same as in Figure 2. Dotted andsolid curves correspond to histograms for the whole images and sample
portions, respectively. The CT value of each sample peak position, fp, with
its peak height, Np, (vertical line at the sample peak) and its characteristic
width, ± Δfp (horizontal line at the height of 1/e of the peak height), which
are obtained by a Gaussian Þt (Eq. 2), are shown for each sample.
FIGURE 2. CT images of standard materials. (a) Aluminum rod 2 mm
in diameter (010213b, slice92: 20 keV). A line proÞle is superimposed
between the arrows. (b) Nickel wire 0.4 mm in diameter (010227c, slice
149: 35 keV). A line proÞle is superimposed between the arrows. (c)Quartz rod 4mm in diameter (010213c, slice98: 25 keV). (d) Quartzite
rod 4mm in diameter (010227f, slice254: 25 keV). The width of the image
is 5.83 mm. (e) A piece of silica glass (010531f, slice189: 25 keV). (f) A
piece of silica glass embedded into amorphous silica powder (010531h,
slice127: 25 keV). Gray scales show the relation between observed LAC
and shading intensity. The width of the images are (a) 2.92 mm, (b) 1.49mm, (c) 5.83 mm, (d) 5.83 mm, (e) 4.08 mm and (f) 5.25 mm. Ring
artifacts of varying severity are visible in some of the images.
⎛⎜ f − f ⎞⎟2
p⎟
⎟⎟
−⎜⎜⎜
⎜⎝ ∆f p ⎟⎟⎠N = N pe(2)where N is the frequency, Np is the frequency at the peak (peakheight), f is the observed LAC, and Δfp is the characteristic peakwidth that is equal to the half width of the peak at N = Np/e, where
e is the base of the natural logarithm. We used fp as the characteristic value of the observed LAC for each sample. The results are
summarized in Table 1. A parameter for the deviation from theGaussian curve was deÞned as the normalized residue, R:
R = σ Np(3)

where σ is the square root of the mean squared difference between

the histogram and the Gaussian curve. The peak shape deviates from a Gaussian curve for samples with insufÞcient X-ray
transmittance (Fig. 3b). The tail of the sample peak at f ~ 30–35
cm–1 is due to improper selection of the sample region, which is
caused by the bright sample edge (Fig. 2b) with the conventional
threshold and the erosion number. The histograms of the sample
peaks are almost identical for samples embedded and not embedded in powders (e.g., Figs. 2e and 2f). The large peak up to f ~1.5 cm–1 for the whole sample histogram (dotted curve) in Figure
3f corresponds to the air and the surrounding amorphous silica
powder. The small peak at f ~ 1 cm–1 is due to improper selectionof the sample region, which was made manually. Different CT
images were obtained for different numbers of projections from
one imaging experiment with 1440 projections (010213c in Table1) by thinning out some projections. As the number of projections
decreases, Δfp increases while fp remains constant.
As already mentioned, observed and theoretical LAC values
are ideally identical when monochromatic beams are used. However, the observed LAC, fp, is slightly smaller than the theoretical
LAC, μ, in the present experiments. The relation between fp andμ is shown in Figure 4. If the non-linear response of the X-ray
detector known as the gamma correction (Harrington 1987) is
considered, fp should be proportional to μ, as will be discussed in
the next section. In fact, fp is almost proportional to μ for small
μ (μ < ~20 cm–1):

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TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST

FIGURE 4. The characteristic values of observed LACs, fp, of thesamples plotted against their theoretical LACs, μ. The dotted line shows
the linear fp-μ relation with γ = 0.8870 in Equation 4. The values offp were obtained by Gaussian Þtting of sample peaks in the observed
LAC histograms. Error bars show the characteristic width of the sample
peak, ±Δfp. The theoretical LACs were calculated from the chemicalcompositions, densities, and mass attenuation coefÞcients as a functionof the photon energy using Equation 1.

fp = γ μ

FIGURE 5. The degree of observed LAC ßuctuation, Δfp/fp, plotted against
the observed LAC , fp. The legend is the same as that in Figure 4.

(4)

where the proportionality coefÞcient γ was determined by leastsquares Þtting (γ = 0.8870 ± 0.0039). The linear relation does
not hold for large μ(μ >~20 cm–1), in which case fp is almost
proportional to a power of μ:
fp = a μb(5)where coefÞcients of a and b were determined by least-squaresÞtting (a = 1.505 ± 0.243 and b = 0.8227 ± 0.0385). We canincorporate Equations 4 and 5 into the following empirical equation for the fp-μ relation:
1m

m⎤
m
⎡
(6)
f p = ⎢( γµ) + ( aµ b ) ⎥⎥⎦⎢⎣where the parameter m was determined by Þtting (m = –18.0).
The reverse equation is expressed as follows:µ = ⎡⎢⎢(δf ) + (cf ) ⎤⎥⎥
n

⎣

p

d

p

n

⎦

1n

(7)

where the parameters were determined by Þtting as δ = 1.127 ±0.005, c = 0.5819 ± 0.1414, d = 1.227 ± 0.062 and n = 19.4.
Contrast resolution of the CT images is represented by Δfp.
Figure 5 shows the Δfp/fp–fp plot. Δfp/fp attains its minimum value(~5%) at f = 10–30 cm–1 although the data are scattered forsmaller fp and the number of data points may not be sufÞcient
for larger fp. Observed LAC at the minimum might correspondto the optimal X-ray transmittance that minimizes the ßuctuationin observed LAC or Δfp/fp.
Rock sample
Figure 6a shows a back-scattered electron (BSE) image of thegarnet schist section. Despite our best efforts to make it so, thecutting plane did not turn out exactly parallel to the CT slices.

FIGURE 6. A cross-section of a garnet schist (sample no. 80904 of
Ikeda et al. 2002). (a) A BSE image at minimum magniÞcation. (b) The
CT image corresponding to this BSE image. (c) A LAC image expressedin terms of μ converted from (b) using the observed–theoretical LAC
relation of Equation 7. (d) The LAC image expressed in terms of μ undera different contrast. The gray scale on the left (0−13.82 cm–1) is commonto (b) for observed LAC and (c) for theoretical LAC. The gray scale on
the right (0–75.85 cm–1) corresponds to (d) for theoretical LAC. qz =quartz, pl = plagioclase, mus = muscovite, chl = chlorite, bi = biotite,
gar = garnet, ilm = ilmenite, zir = zircon.

Therefore, a CT image as close as possible to the BSE image wasobtained from the 3-D image by image processing with SLICE(Fig. 6b). Faint ring artifacts are seen in the CT image.
Quartz, plagioclase (An15), muscovite, chlorite, biotite, garnet, ilmenite, and zircon are identiÞable in the BSE image (Fig.

TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST

137

6a). In the CT image (Fig. 6b), however, plagioclase and chlorite
cannot be distinguished from quartz and biotite, respectively.
Figure 7a shows the observed LAC histogram for the 3-D image,where the peaks for quartz and plagioclase overlap, as do thosefor biotite and chlorite. In this histogram, the logarithm of thefrequency, N, is plotted to show the major and minor minerals
with different N values simultaneously. The characteristic valuesof observed LAC for quartz-plagioclase and garnet were identiÞed from the peaks in the histogram whereas those for muscovite,
chlorite-biotite, ilmenite, and zircon from the bumps (arrows in
Fig. 7a). The theoretical LAC values of the minerals were calculated from their compositions (Table 1 of Ikeda et al. 2002).
The observed-theoretical LAC plot (Fig. 7b) is consistent withthe fp-μ relation for the standards (Eqs. 6 or 7) within an errorof 10%. This result shows that Equation 6 or 7 can be applied
to the rock sample. The CT images in terms of fp of the garnet
schist were converted to LAC images expressed in terms of μsing the present fp-μ relation (Eq. 7). The images are shown in
Figures 6c and 6d with different contrasts. The histogram of the
3-D LAC image is shown in Figure 7a.

DISCUSSION
Discrepancy between fp and μ
As already mentioned, the reconstruction program is not theorigin of the discrepancy between fp and μ. Moreover, systematic
measurements of the projection data (its deÞnition is given below
in Eq. 9) of high-purity metal wires with circular cross sections
show that a similar discrepancy exists between the measured andtheoretical projection data. Thus, the fp – μ discrepancy stems
from factors before the image reconstruction, such as: (1) the
non-linear response of the X-ray detector, (2) scattering of Xray beams, and/or (3) harmonic wave beams generated by the
monochromator.
If we assume that:J ∝ Iγ(8)where J is the intensity of a visible light detected at the CCD
camera (Fig. 1), I is the net X-ray intensity, and γ is a constant,the linear fp – μ relation (Eq. 4) can be explained (see Appendix).
This relation is widely used as the gamma correction for thebrightness of a computer display (Harrington 1987). Recently,
the observed–theoretical LAC relation at BL47XU of SPring-8
was also determined for small samples (<0.45 mm) with higher
spatial resolution (~1.5 μm) (Nakamura et al. 2003). The relationis almost linear as expressed by Equation 4 as long as fp <400cm–1 (γ = 0.892 ± 0.004). This γ value is same as that for fp <20
cm–1 in the present study within the error.
A change in fp is expected for large μ (Eq. 5) if we consider
that the scattering X-ray beam cannot be ignored for samples
with insufÞcient X-ray transmittance. The X-ray transmittanceis represented by projection, p:⎛I ⎞p = ln ⎜⎜⎜ 0 ⎟⎟⎟ = ∫ µds = µS⎜⎝ I ⎟⎠(9)

where I0 and I are the intensities of the incident and transmit-

FIGURE 7. (a) Histograms for 3-D CT and LAC images of a garnet
schist (sample no. 80904 of Ikeda et al. 2002). The logarithm of thefrequency is plotted to show the major (qz = quartz, pl = plagioclase,
mus = muscovite, chl = chlorite, bi = biotite, gar = garnet) and minor
minerals (ilm = ilmenite, zir = zircon) simultaneously. (b) Characteristic
values of observed LAC for the minerals vs. their theoretical LAC values.
The fp-μ relation for the standard materials (Eqs. 6 or 7) is shown as asolid line.

ted X-ray beams, respectively, s is the coordinate in the sample
along the X-ray beam paths, and S is the sample thickness (ahomogeneous sample is assumed). If the scattered X-ray beam
intensity, Is, is assumed to be superimposed on I homogeneously,
the fp/μ ratio becomes (see Appendix):I ⎞γ ⎛= − ln ⎜⎜⎜e− p + s ⎟⎟⎟µp ⎜⎝I 0 ⎟⎠

fp(10)

If Is is negligibly small compared with I0 (Is/I0<<1), Equation 10 reduces to Equation 4. If Is is not negligibly small, fp/μ
decreases with increasing p for large p [p>>–ln(1 – Is/I0)]. This
may explain Equation 5 qualitatively. However, the fp/μ-p plot
(Fig. 8) shows that fp/μ does not decrease simply with increasingp (fp/μ ~0.9 at large p for some samples: Al wire 5 mm in diameterat 20 keV and amorphous silica sphere at 15 keV). In this plot,
the values of p were calculated from the maximum widths of thesamples (e.g., the diameter of a rod was adopted as S in Eq. 9). At
present, we do not know exactly why fp/μ decreases with increasing μ but not p. Heterogeneous distribution of Is (e.g., Is near theedge of a sample might be larger than the interior on a projection
image) may be responsible for the fp-μ-p relation. Alternatively,
beam hardening by X-ray beams with higher monochromatorharmonics may affect fp. Indeed, the bright contrast near the
sample edge in CT images of samples with insufÞcient X-ray

138

TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST

FIGURE 8. The ratio between the characteristic observed LAC andtheoretical LAC (fp/μ) plotted against the projection, p (Eq. 9). The
legend is the same as that in Figure 4.

FIGURE 9. A histogram of CT, LAC, and BSE images of a crosssection of Figure 6. The arbitrary scale for the BSE brightness was set
so that the peak positions for quartz-plagioclase and garnet coincidedwith those of the CT image. The frequencies were normalized by thepeak height for quartz-plagioclase.

transmittance (Fig. 2b) may be due to a kind of beam hardening
induced by harmonics. The physical meaning of the fp-μ relation(Eqs. 6 or 7) is not entirely clear at present.
Comparison of CT and BSE images of the rock sample
Rock textures are commonly examined by BSE images under
an SEM. The brightness of a BSE image is related to the mean
atomic number of a material whereas that of a CT image is related
to the X-ray attenuation. As the two types of images are similar
in many cases, they were compared in this study.
Figure 9 shows the histogram of observed LAC in the CT
image of the garnet schist section of Figure 6b together with thatof the brightness of the BSE image (8-bit gray scale) of Figure
6a. As brightness has an arbitrary scale and unit, the brightness
scale was set so that the peak positions for quartz-plagioclase
and garnet of the BSE image coincided with those of the CT
image. The frequencies were also normalized by the peak heightfor quartz-plagioclase. The muscovite peak was distinct fromthe quartz-plagioclase peak in the BSE image. The peak width
for each mineral of the CT image is larger than that of the BSE
image. This shows that the CT image has poorer contrast resolution than the BSE image. The two images differ with respect
to their spatial resolution as well. The CT image quality is also
affected by ring artifacts.
Strictly speaking, the brightness of BSE images is given by
the backscatter coefÞcient of the material, η, which can be expressed as η = Σwiηi where ηi is the backscatter coefÞcient of thei-th element (Hall and Lloyd 1981; Dilks and Graham 1985):
ηi = −0.0256 + 0.016 Z i − 1.86 ×10−4 Z i 2 + 8.3×10−7 Z i 3 (11)where Zi is the atomic number of the i-th element. The η values
for the minerals in the garnet schist were calculated from theircompositions. A plot of the BSE brightness and η for the minerals(Fig. 10a) shows that the relation is almost linear, at least for the
BSE imaging system of the SEM used in the present experiment.
A plot of the BSE brightness and observed LAC shows that therelation can be represented by a convex curve (Fig. 10b). The
contrast resolution of the BSE image is better than those of CT

FIGURE 10. (a) A plot of the brightness of the BSE image of Figure
6a (8-bit gray scale) vs. backscatter coefÞcient, η, for quartz, plagioclase,muscovite, chlorite, biotite, and garnet (core and rim). (b) A plot of the
BSE brightness vs. the characteristic values of observed LAC, fp, forthe minerals in Figure 7.

images as already mentioned, and the convex curve shows thatthe difference is greater for lighter minerals (quartz, plagioclase,and muscovite) than for heavier ones (biotite or chlorite andgarnet). However, CT imaging has its advantage too: it allows
3-D structures of samples to be obtained non-destructively.

TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST

Estimation and discrimination of minerals by CT value
Based on the present fp-μ relation, we can impose certain
constraints on the identiÞcation of materials, such as mineral
species, in CT images obtained using SP-μCT at BL20B2. Using Equation 6, the theoretical LACs of important minerals interrestrial rocks and meteorites were calculated and converted
to observed LACs, f, for SP-μCT at BL20B2. These values at
30 keV were plotted against the backscatter coefÞcient, η, calculated using Equation 11 (Fig. 11a). We adopted 30 keV for
the observed LACs as the typical photon energy for imaging
at BL20B2. It should be noted that the relative values of LAC
among minerals are almost independent of photon energy as longas no absorption edge energies are crossed. As seen in Figure
11a, the η-f relation is roughly represented by a convex curve as
in Figure 10b, once again demonstrating that the contrast resolution advantage of BSE images is more pronounced for lighter
minerals. The η-f relation is redrawn for minerals related togranitic, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks (Fig. 11b), maÞcto ultramaÞc rocks (Fig. 11c), and chondritic meteorites (Fig.
11d). Figure 11b shows that we cannot distinguish albite fromquartz and anorthite from orthoclase in CT images as Δfp/fp is

139>10% at fp~2–3 cm–1 (Fig. 5). Though enstatite and quartz have
similar observed LAC, they are easily distinguished if the Fs
component is included in orthopyroxene. The situation is similar
for the Ca-free Mg-amphibole (anthophylite) and Mg, Al-garnet(pyrope). The Ca-Mg end-members of pyroxene (diopside) andamphibole (tremolite), can be distinguished from their Ca-freecounterparts (enstatite and anthophyllite).
If olivine and pyroxenes have similar Mg numbers (~0.9),
olivine and orthopyroxene cannot be distinguished from eachother but they can be distinguished from clinopyroxene (Fig.
11c). Olivine and orthopyroxene may be distinguished if they
are Fe-rich. Magnetite and chromite should be distinguishable
as Δfp/fp~5% at fp~20 cm–1.
The CT values of minerals found in CAIs (Ca- and Al-richinclusions) of chondrites (forsterite, spinel, hibonite, anorthite,
diopside, and melilite), are roughly in the 2.5–5 cm–1 range (Fig.
11d). As these values overlap with those of Mg-rich maÞc minerals (Fo70–100, En10–60, and Di80–100) and plagioclase, it is difÞcult
to distinguish CAIs from the bulk of chondrules without any
textural information. Figure 11a shows that Fe-Ni metal is easily distinguished from Fe sulÞdes or magnetite. Discrimination

FIGURE 11. A plot of backscatter coefÞcient, η, vs. observed LAC, f, at 30 keV for minerals of interest. (a) A general trend. Minerals with solid
solutions (olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and Fe-Ni metal) are shown at 20 mol% increments (e.g., at a Fo content of 100, 80, 60, 40,
20, and 0). Fe-bearing serpentine is also shown by assuming a solid solution of Mg-serpentine and cronstedtite. Garnets: pyrope (Pyr), almandine(Alm), Spessartine (Spe), grossular (Gro), and andradite (And). Nesosilicates: β-Mg2SiO4, γ-Mg2SiO4, andalusite, sillimanite, kyanite, sphene, andzircon. Soro- and cyclosilicates: akermanite, gehlenite, and cordierite. Inosilicates: MgSiO3-perovskite, jadeite, and wollastonite. Tectosilicates:
anorthite, albite, orthoclase, and quartz. Oxides: chromite, magnetite, spinel, corundum, hematite, ilmenite, rutile, and hibonite. Fe-Ni sulÞdes:pyrite, troilite, and pentlandite. Elements: diamond and graphite. Sheet silicates: talc, phlogopite, muscovite, kaolinite, and saponite. Hydrous
silicates: prehnite, zoisite, anthophyllite, and tremolite. Hydrous oxides: brucite, goethite, and ferrihydrite. Carbonates: calcite, dolomite, gypsum
and siderite. Sulfates: gypsum, and epsomite. Phosphates: ßuorapatite, chrolapatite, and hydroxyapatite. Halides: ßuorite and halite. (b) Minerals
found in granitic, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Plagioclase solid solution is shown at 20 mol% increments. (c) Minerals found in maÞcand ultramaÞc rocks. (d) Minerals found in chondritic meteorites.

140

TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST

between troilite and magnetite is difÞcult whereas that between
troilite and pentlandite may be possible.
As shown in Figure 11, f and η are largely dependent on theconcentrations of heavy elements, such as Fe. If the mineral species are known in advance, we can estimate their compositions(e.g., the Mg/Fe ratios) from the qualitative observed LACs. It
should be noted that the Fe/Ni ratios estimated from the observed
LAC values have large errors due to the large Δfp/fp value atlarge observed LACs. Substitutions involving heavy elements,
such as U, Th, and REEs, may affect mineral identiÞcation orcompositional estimation for major-element solid solutions using
observed LACs. For example, a heavily metamict zircon from Sri
Lanka contains 1.14, 0.174, 0.373, and 0.084 wt% Hf2O, Dy2O3+ Er2O3+Yb2O3, U2O, and Th2O, respectively, and 253 ppm Pb(Geisler et al. 2002). Comparison of theoretical LACs between
zircon with and without these heavy elements shows that the relative difference of the LACs is only 0.8–1.5% at X-ray energies
of 20–50 keV, the range of energies typically used at BL20B2of SPring-8. Apatite is another example of a phase containing
such heavy elements. At X-ray energies of 20–50 keV, the relative difference between the LACs of apatite with and without
heavy elements is 0.9–1.0% for 50, 100, and 50 ppm U, Th, andPb, respectively, and 0.1 wt% REE2O3 (Dy was used as REE inthe calculation), and 6.4–7.1% for the same concentrations ofU, Th, and Pb and 1 wt% REE2O3. As these relative differences
are smaller than or similar to the contrast resolution (Δfp/fp) of
the present experiments (Fig. 5), such substitutions virtually do
not affect the observed LACs as long as the heavy element concentrations are low. Pores and/or inclusions in minerals smaller
than the spatial resolution of CT images may also affect theobserved LACs. The contrast resolution (Fig. 5) shows that aporosity of less than 5% does not affect the observed LACs by
SP-μCT at BL20B2.
Estimation of mineral phases and solid-solution compositions
as discussed above is potentially useful for precious samples
that cannot be cut, such as cultural assets and fragile or porous
samples that are easily damaged. This technique is also useful for curation of extraterrestrial materials, such as precious
meteorites and samples returned by planetary missions [e.g.,
Hayabusa mission to S-type asteroid Itokawa by JAXA (Kawaguchi et al. 2003)].
Element image by subtraction method
The distribution of an element can be obtained by imaging
immediately above and below the X-ray absorption-edge energies of the element and taking the difference between the two
images (e.g., Thompson et al. 1984). In the subtraction method,
the weight fraction of element i, wi, can be obtained from thefollowing equation:
wi =

∆µ
ρ∆τ i

(12)

where Δμ is the difference of LACs between the two energies,
ρ is the bulk density, and Δτ i is the difference of MACs (massattenuation coefÞcients) of the element i between the two energies. However, as Δμ is generally different from the observed
LAC difference, the concentrations cannot be obtained directly
by subtraction between the two sets of CT images. If the CT im-

ages at the two energies can be converted into images expressedin terms of theoretical LACs using the fp-μ relation, we can obtain images expressed in terms of Δμ (Δμ images). Ikeda et al.
(2004) obtained a 3-D Cs image of a partially molten Cs-doped
granite sample with SP-μCT at BL20B2 of SPring-8 using thepresent fp-μ relation (Eq. 7). They obtained Δμ images from thetwo sets of CT images and, based on the Δμ image, the element
image [w(Cs) image] by measuring Δτ(Cs) and assuming a certain value for ρ. They further cut the sample and obtained a Cs
map of the section with an electron microprobe analyzer. The
Cs concentration distribution in the w(Cs)-image was almost
identical to that in the Cs map. This result strongly suggests thatthe empirical fp-μ relation is generally useful to CT images takenwith SP-μCT at BL20B2.

SUMMARY
A quantiÞcation of linear attenuation coefÞcients (LACs)
obtained by X-ray computed tomography (observed LAC) is
now possible for SP-μCT at BL20B2 of SPring-8 using the observed LAC (fp) – theoretical LAC (μ) relation obtained in thepresent study. Although the present results can only be used fora speciÞc CT system (SP-μCT at BL20B2), similar fp-μ relations
could be obtained for other CT systems using monochromatic
beams. Additional studies are necessary to elucidate the physicalmeaning of the observed–theoretical LAC relation and to conÞrm
that the relation applies to a wide rage of imaging conditions.
Recently, the observed–theoretical LAC relation at BL47XU ofSPring-8 was also determined for small samples (<0.45 mm)with higher spatial resolution (~1.5 μm) (Nakamura et al. 2003).
This could yield the Fe concentrations in the 3-D Fe image of an
Antarctic micrometeorite (Tsuchiyama et al. 2001). Estimationof densities of samples that are so small that their masses cannot
be measured even by an ultra-microbalance may be feasible, as
well as discrimination of minerals and estimation of solid-solution compositions. The present study brings a new perspective toquantiÞcation of the attenuation contrast of CT images obtainedby the X-ray CT technique using monochromatized beams.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The synchrotron radiation experiments were performed at SPring-8 with theapproval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (Proposal
Nos. 2000A0125-NOM-np and 2001A0399-NOM-np). The authors are gratefulto Dr. Yoshio Suzuki of SPring-8/JASRI for discussions, and to Drs. Takeshi
Ikeda of Kyushu University, Simon Wallis of Nagoya University, and Norimasa
Shimobayashi of Kyoto University for their permission to use CT images of themetamorphic rock sample. We are grateful to R. Ketcham of The University ofTexas at Austin and anonymous reviewers for critical reviews. This study was partly
funded by a Grant-in-Aid for ScientiÞc Research from the Japanese Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (no. 11304035).

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TSUCHIYAMA ET AL.: QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF X-RAY CT ATTENUATION CONTRAST

APPENDIX: DERIVATION OF EQUATIONS 4 AND 10
The actual projection detected by the CCD camera in the
beam monitor, Pj, can be expressed as:⎛J ⎞Pj = ln ⎜⎜ 0 ⎟⎟⎟ = fP S ,⎜⎝ J ⎠(A1)

where J0 is the incident intensity. A homogeneous sample is assumed. When we use Equations 8 and 9, then:γ⎛I ⎞Pj = ln ⎜⎜⎜ 0 ⎟⎟⎟ = γµS .
⎜⎝ I ⎟⎠(A2)

Equation 4 is derived by comparing Equations A1 and A2.
When the scattered X-ray beam is superimposed homogeneously on the transmitted X-ray beam, Pj becomes:

γ

⎛ I ⎞
Pj = ln ⎜⎜ 0 ⎟⎟⎟ .
⎜⎝ I + I ⎟⎠
S

(A2')

On the other hand, combining Equations A1 and 9 yields
Pj =

pf p
µ

.

(A3)

Equation 10 is derived by comparing Equations A2', A3, and
9:
fp
I ⎞
γ ⎛ I ⎞γ ⎛= ln ⎜⎜⎜ 0 ⎟⎟⎟ = − ln ⎜⎜⎜e− p + S ⎟⎟⎟ .
(10)⎟µp ⎜⎝ I + I ⎠
p ⎜⎝
I ⎟⎠
S

0

This equation is valid when the incident beam intensity is greaterthan the apparent transmitted beam (I0 >> I + IS). This conditionis equivalent with e–p + IS/I0<<1, or p >> –ln(1 – IS/I0).