ZEISS Merges X-Ray Microscopy and MicroCT in One Instrument

ZEISS introduced the VersaXRM 5 Insight on 15 September, combining X-ray microscopy and microCT in one platform for non-destructive 3D imaging. It offers multi-scale imaging, guided workflows and automated AI-enabled reconstruction, and ZEISS positions it as removing the need to cut, trim or refixture samples between scan scales. Resolution, voxel size, kV settings and detector specifications were not disclosed.

Dr Keith Duncan, research scientist and director of X-ray imaging at the Danforth Plant Science Center in Missouri, described it as a practical path forward for teams needing both day-to-day productivity and advanced 3D imaging capability.

Multi-scale inspection normally means two instruments and a sample moved between them. That introduces registration error — the coordinate frames do not match, so correlating a feature seen at low magnification with the detail seen at high magnification becomes a manual alignment exercise. It also risks the specimen, which for a failed part from the field or a one-off prototype may be irreplaceable. Keeping both scales in one coordinate frame removes that whole class of problem.

The automated reconstruction is the part with operational consequences. CT reconstruction has traditionally been the bottleneck: the scanner finishes, and then a workstation grinds through the volume while an operator waits or queues the next job behind it. Moving that off the critical path is what lets a scanner run more duty cycles per shift, which is the number that determines whether industrial CT is a laboratory service or a production inspection step.