Researchers at Coastal Carolina University will soon be able to use a device that few people would expect to see in a marine science laboratory.
It's a computerized axial tomography or CAT scanner, the type of machine that takes three-dimensional X-ray images to provide a detailed look inside a human body.
Cancer physicians can use a CAT scanner to measure the progress of the therapy they're using to attack a patient's tumor.
"With cancer, we're always looking to measure how's the cancer doing, the treatment, is it still there, is it shrinking, is it growing?" said Dr. Lawrence Holt, president of Coastal Cancer Center of Myrtle Beach.
After Coastal Cancer Center recently upgraded to a new, faster CAT scanner, it donated its old but still workable unit to the marine science department at CCU.
The old scanner is in pieces after being moved to the marine science lab this week, but once it is reassembled, the scanner will be used to study sediment samples from the ocean floor, to learn more about changes that have come about over the years, possibly due to climate change.
"In those changes are layers and fine details that become well illuminated by using such a device," said Dr. Paul Gayes, director of CCU's Center for Marine and Wetland Studies.
Gayes said the machine also has other potential uses in the marine science department. It could be used to study mammals that are stranded on the beach, or for maritime archeology applications, to look inside ancient artifacts recovered from the sea.
"So there's a wide range of applications for understanding the mechanical integrity, the structure and fabric of various kinds of materials," Gayes said.
CCU is aiming to establish a PhD program in marine science and Gayes said the cat scanner is part of the effort to reach that goal.
"The more tools that we have to look at these complex coastal zones, I think the better science happens."
Gayes said before the marine science lab got its own machine, it had to use CAT scanners whenever they were available at local hospitals.
