Editing CT scan (section)

=== Cultural heritage use ===
X-ray CT and [[X-ray microtomography|micro-CT]] can also be used for the conservation and preservation of objects of cultural heritage. For many fragile objects, direct research and observation can be damaging and can degrade the object over time. Using CT scans, conservators and researchers are able to determine the material composition of the objects they are exploring, such as the position of ink along the layers of a scroll, without any additional harm. These scans have been optimal for research focused on the workings of the [[Antikythera mechanism]] or the text hidden inside the charred outer layers of the [[En-Gedi Scroll]]. However, they are not optimal for every object subject to these kinds of research questions, as there are certain artifacts like the [[Herculaneum papyri]] in which the material composition has very little variation along the inside of the object. After scanning these objects, computational methods can be employed to examine the insides of these objects, as was the case with the virtual unwrapping of the [[En-Gedi Scroll#Recovery|En-Gedi scroll]] and the [[Herculaneum papyri#Virtual unrolling|Herculaneum papyri]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Seales |first1=W. B. |last2=Parker |first2=C. S. |last3=Segal |first3=M. |last4=Tov |first4=E. |last5=Shor |first5=P. |last6=Porath |first6=Y. |year=2016 |title=From damage to discovery via virtual unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi |journal=Science Advances |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=e1601247 |bibcode=2016SciA....2E1247S |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1601247 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=5031465 |pmid=27679821}}</ref> Micro-CT has also proved useful for analyzing more recent artifacts such as still-sealed historic correspondence that employed the technique of [[letterlocking]] (complex folding and cuts) that provided a "tamper-evident locking mechanism".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castellanos |first=Sara |date=2 March 2021 |title=A Letter Sealed for Centuries Has Been Read—Without Even Opening It |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-letter-sealed-for-centuries-has-been-readwithout-even-opening-it-11614679203 |access-date=2 March 2021 |website=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dambrogio |first1=Jana |last2=Ghassaei |first2=Amanda |last3=Staraza Smith |first3=Daniel |last4=Jackson |first4=Holly |last5=Demaine |first5=Martin L. |date=2 March 2021 |title=Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography |journal=Nature Communications |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=1184 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.1184D |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-21326-w |pmc=7925573 |pmid=33654094}}</ref> Further examples of use cases in archaeology is imaging the contents of sarcophagi or ceramics.<ref name="archaeological_application" />

Recently, CWI in Amsterdam has collaborated with Rijksmuseum to investigate art object inside details in the framework called IntACT.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CT FOR ART |url=https://www.nicas-research.nl/projects/impact4art/ |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=NICAS |language=en-US}}</ref>