Overview
- Semmelweis University’s Medical Imaging Center scanned Egyptian mummy remains from the Semmelweis Museum using a photon-counting CT system during off-hours, producing images with far finer detail than past scans.
- The high-resolution data corrected a long-standing catalog error, showing a bundle once labeled as a head or even a bird is an adult human foot, with clear views of distinct wrapping layers.
- Fresh images of a previously puzzling lower left limb point to possible osteoporosis, though researchers say the cause remains unclear and will require further analysis.
- Teeth and skull suture details from two mummified heads now support tighter age estimates and set the stage for precise 3D and potential facial reconstructions, while scans of a second lower left limb suggest a young individual.
- Earlier radiocarbon tests dated three of six samples, with the oldest between 401 and 259 BCE, and the new CT approach—using detectors that sharpen small structures and material contrasts—helps study fragile bones and textiles without damage.