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Mummies conceal fascinating clues about their past, including the food they consumed and the illnesses they experienced while alive. Today, scientists are applying a medical tool to peer even further into the mysteries carried by mummified remains, as reported by Gizmodo.
A study published in the journal Radiology by researchers from Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology demonstrates a new CT scanning method capable of revealing a mummy’s internal structure at a microscopic level. CT scans, widely used in medicine to create detailed X-ray images, help doctors see inside patients without surgery. Archaeologists have adopted this technology for studying fragile ancient objects for years, though its ability to examine soft tissue with high resolution is still limited.
The advanced version of this technology, known as phase-contrast CT scanning, measures the phase shift—how a light wave’s position changes—when X-rays pass through solid materials. This technique produces images with greater contrast than traditional X-rays, allowing for sharper details to be captured.
Jenny Romell, et al./RadiologyThis decade-old technology has been routinely used by doctors to study soft tissues like organs and veins in living patients. However, it had never been applied to a mummy until recently. Researchers collaborated with the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm to examine a mummified human right hand dating back to 400 BCE in Egypt. By using a phase-contrast CT scanner, they obtained images with a resolution of 6 to 9 microns, allowing them to clearly observe layers of skin, individual cells in the connective tissue, and blood vessels in the nail bed—without harming the artifact. In the past, similar studies would have required using a scalpel to examine the tissues.
According to Ars Technica, a phase-contrast CT scanner costs roughly the same as a traditional machine. The authors of the study hope that this technology will become as prevalent in archaeology as conventional CT scanning, opening new avenues for research in mummies yet to be discovered and even in previously studied artifacts.
