Computed tomography (CT) bone segmentation of an ancient Egyptian mummy: a comparison of automated and semiautomated threshold and dual-energy techniques

Dual-energy computed tomography (CT) enables 3-dimensional,noninvasive, and nondestructive imaging with material separation. Dual-energy CT is generally used to segment hydrated tissues within the clinical context. We apply dual-energy CT to an ancient Egyptian mummy and present several techniques designed to separate bone from desiccated tissue and resin. Automated and semiautomated dual-energy CT techniques are compared to manual segmentation and thresholding-based techniques. Semiautomated techniques enable substantial reductions in operator time compared to manual segmentation.