Background

Mechanical Serial Sectioning

Mechanical serial sectioning is a technique used to create high-resolution images of multi-material samples by slicing them into thin sections. Each slice represents a cross-sectional view of the sample, allowing researchers to analyze its internal structures in detail.

Process Overview

1. Slicing the Volume: The sample is mounted and mechanically polished to remove a thin slice of material. Each slice is typically a few micrometers thick, enabling the capture of fine details.

2. Image Acquisition: Each slice is usually imaged using a high-resolution optical microscope. The resulting images are often large mosaics that capture the entirety of the slice.

3. Mosaic Creation: The images obtained from each slice are often stitched together to form a complete mosaic. This mosaic represents the entire slice and contains numerous tiles, each corresponding to a specific region of the slice.

Mechanical serial sectioning is a powerful approach for detailed analysis of complex structures in 3D, enabling advancements in research and development. precon3d is a open-source python package for preparing and reconstructing the data from this unique method.