A human wrist, with it watch. Credit: MARS Bioimaging Ltd.

Think you know what to expect from an X-ray? Think again. MARS Bioimaging just developed the world’s first 3D full-color X-ray — they’re pretty incredible (and a little uncanny). The MARS system is a medical scanner using technology from CERN, and it captures the human body in startling detail. It took over a decade to develop, and it could offer not only more visually stimulating bone-scans, but more accurate results for doctors and patients.

The “Spectral CT” uses a sensor that can measure specific wavelengths of X-rays as they pass through various materials. Next, the system runs the spectroscopic data through algorithms, generating a 3D colored image in previously unimaginable detail. In these scans, you can not only see bone, but blood, tissue, fat, and even the inner workings of a watch. The MARS scanner use Medipix chips, which were first developed to track particles at the Large Hadron Collider. The chip essentially functions like a camera that captures and counts every […]