Destructive Tomography of Red Cabbage and Swiss Cheese: FIB-SEM Themed Educational Outreach

Abstract

In this article we describe a simple, scalable, low-cost, and hands-on activity that introduces students to microscopy and "destructive tomography." Specifically, we show that 2D images of sequential cross sections of several foods can be quickly reconstructed into a volumetric data set, shared, and interactively explored online using simple and fast image processing. We describe the entire process and present the results of destructive tomography of red cabbage and Swiss cheese as well as describe our experience with implementation of this activity in a local middle school.