Plenary Event
X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Particle Technologies Plenary
19 August 2024 • 4:00 PM - 5:25 PM PDT | Conv. Ctr. Room 6A
Session Chairs: Ralph B. James, Savannah River National Lab. (United States); Ali M. Khounsary, Illinois Institute of Technology (United States)
4:00 PM - 4:05 PM:
Welcome and Opening Remarks
4:05 PM - 4:45 PM:
On the cusp of X-ray tomographic mapping of the human brain and its 1011 cells
The human brain contains 86 billion cells, but so far they could not be visualized in their entirety. The task corresponds to a dataset of petabyte size – analogous to plotting every star in the Milky Way. Quite recently, we demonstrated feasibility of cellular-resolution full-brain imaging for ethanol-immersed and paraffin-embedded human brain using the tomography setup at the beamline P07 (Petra III, DESY, Hamburg, Germany). The next challenge involves acquiring and disseminating a human brain atlas that will create a paradigm for investigating other human organs, high-performance engineering devices, and unique cultural heritage objects related to big data.
Bert Müller has held the Thomas Straumann Chair for Materials Science in Medicine at the University of Basel, Switzerland since 2006. He received his master’s degree in physics from the Dresden University of Technology, Germany, his Ph.D. in experimental physics from the University of Hannover, Germany, and his habilitation in experimental physics from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he has lectured since 2001. His current research interests include hard X-ray imaging down to the nanometer scale and physics-based research in medicine and dentistry. He was named the 2022 recipient of the SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award.
4:45 PM - 5:25 PM:
The Compton Spectrometer and Imager: mission overview and germanium detector developments
COSI is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) satellite mission for launch in 2027. COSI is a wide-field gamma-ray telescope designed to survey the entire sky at 0.2-5 MeV. It provides imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry of astrophysical sources, and its germanium detectors provide excellent energy resolution for emission line measurements. I will overview the COSI mission including the science, technical design, and status. The heart of the COSI instrument is an array of high-resolution cross strip germanium sensors. I will focus deeper on germanium detector developments in support of the COSI mission and ongoing work to optimize the in-flight detector performance.
Steven Boggs is a professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of California, San Diego. His research is focused on high-energy astrophysics, in particular the development of novel gamma-ray and X-ray instruments with an emphasis on high-resolution spectroscopy. He led the successful NCT and COSI suborbital balloon payloads on six flight campaigns from around the globe. He previously served as an instrument Co-I/institutional PI on the NuSTAR SMEX mission, and currently serves as Deputy PI of the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) NASA SMEX mission. Prof. Boggs is a fellow of APS and AAAS.
SETUP: Theater style seating.
4:00 PM - 4:05 PM:
Welcome and Opening Remarks
4:05 PM - 4:45 PM:
On the cusp of X-ray tomographic mapping of the human brain and its 1011 cells
 |
Bert Müller
Univ. Basel (Switzerland) |
The human brain contains 86 billion cells, but so far they could not be visualized in their entirety. The task corresponds to a dataset of petabyte size – analogous to plotting every star in the Milky Way. Quite recently, we demonstrated feasibility of cellular-resolution full-brain imaging for ethanol-immersed and paraffin-embedded human brain using the tomography setup at the beamline P07 (Petra III, DESY, Hamburg, Germany). The next challenge involves acquiring and disseminating a human brain atlas that will create a paradigm for investigating other human organs, high-performance engineering devices, and unique cultural heritage objects related to big data.
Bert Müller has held the Thomas Straumann Chair for Materials Science in Medicine at the University of Basel, Switzerland since 2006. He received his master’s degree in physics from the Dresden University of Technology, Germany, his Ph.D. in experimental physics from the University of Hannover, Germany, and his habilitation in experimental physics from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he has lectured since 2001. His current research interests include hard X-ray imaging down to the nanometer scale and physics-based research in medicine and dentistry. He was named the 2022 recipient of the SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award.
4:45 PM - 5:25 PM:
The Compton Spectrometer and Imager: mission overview and germanium detector developments
 |
Steven Boggs
Univ. of California, San Diego (United States) |
COSI is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) satellite mission for launch in 2027. COSI is a wide-field gamma-ray telescope designed to survey the entire sky at 0.2-5 MeV. It provides imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry of astrophysical sources, and its germanium detectors provide excellent energy resolution for emission line measurements. I will overview the COSI mission including the science, technical design, and status. The heart of the COSI instrument is an array of high-resolution cross strip germanium sensors. I will focus deeper on germanium detector developments in support of the COSI mission and ongoing work to optimize the in-flight detector performance.
Steven Boggs is a professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of California, San Diego. His research is focused on high-energy astrophysics, in particular the development of novel gamma-ray and X-ray instruments with an emphasis on high-resolution spectroscopy. He led the successful NCT and COSI suborbital balloon payloads on six flight campaigns from around the globe. He previously served as an instrument Co-I/institutional PI on the NuSTAR SMEX mission, and currently serves as Deputy PI of the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) NASA SMEX mission. Prof. Boggs is a fellow of APS and AAAS.
Event Details
FORMAT: General session with live audience Q&A to follow the presentation.SETUP: Theater style seating.