| Title |
Cross-instrument measurement framework linking X-ray μCT and photoluminescence spectroscopy: Application to microcracks characterization in mineralized enamel |
| Authors |
Dumbrytė, Irma ; Narbutis, Donatas ; Androulidaki, Maria ; Skliutas, Edvinas ; Virkėtis, Robertas ; Jasiūnienė, Elena ; Juodkazis, Saulius ; Merkininkaitė, Greta ; Malinauskas, Mangirdas |
| DOI |
10.1016/j.measurement.2026.122366 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
Measurement.. London : Elsevier BV. 2026, vol. 287, art. no. 122366, p. [1-11].. ISSN 0263-2241 |
| Keywords [eng] |
Correlative imaging ; Defect characterization ; Elemental mapping ; Multimodal analysis ; Spectro-spatial registration |
| Abstract [eng] |
Correlative characterization of micro-scale defects in heterogeneous mineralized materials requires the spatial fusion of measurement modalities that differ in resolution, contrast mechanism, and coordinate system. This study presents a non-destructive multimodal measurement methodology in which X-ray micro-computed tomography ( μ CT) and spatially selective photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy are linked on an intact specimen by a 3D surface mesh-assisted spatial registration framework, with complementary energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) used to characterize the associated compositional changes. The registration aligns the volumetric and point-resolved measurements with a spatial uncertainty bounded by the PL laser spot size (diameter ≈ 80 μ m ) and the μ CT voxel size ( ≈ 7 × 7 × 7 µm3), both smaller than the spacing between adjacent measurement points, ensuring well-defined co-localization of crack-affected and pristine regions. The methodology was demonstrated on extracted human premolars with visible enamel microcracks: 192 polarization-resolved PL spectra per tooth, acquired at 325 nm excitation across 12 spatial positions (6 cracked, 6 pristine) and spatially registered to the μ CT datacube, revealed a reproducible difference in spectral shape between crack-affected and pristine regions. A peak asymmetry index, defined as the ratio of the two emission maxima, was reduced in cracked regions consistently in both teeth and significantly when pooled across specimens (1.16 v s 1.28; p = 0.014), supported by EDS evidence of increased carbon content at crack sites (a 42% relative increase in averaged carbon content, with the carbon-to-oxygen ratio rising from 0.46 to 0.84). The validated measurement framework — its spatial registration with bounded uncertainty — is material-independent and generalizable to correlative volumetric and spectroscopic defect characterization in heterogeneous solids. |
| Published |
London : Elsevier BV |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2026 |
| CC license |
|
