multislice

Multislice is a term used in imaging and related fields to describe techniques that treat a specimen or volume as a stack of thin slices for processing or acquisition. The most common contexts are the multislice method in electron microscopy and multislice computed tomography (MSCT).

In electron microscopy, the multislice method models the propagation of the electron wave through a thick specimen by dividing the specimen along the beam direction into a series of thin slices. Each slice is represented by a two-dimensional transmission function, and the wave is sequentially propagated between slices using a Fresnel propagator. The exit wave after the last slice is then imaged by the objective lens to produce simulated or interpreted TEM images. The method captures multiple scattering events and can be used to study crystalline structure, strain, and thickness effects in materials. It is computationally efficient and widely used for image simulation and interpretation.

In medical imaging, multislice CT uses detectors arranged in multiple rows to acquire several image slices in a single rotation, increasing coverage and speeding up examinations. Configurations range from a few to many detector rows, enabling wider z-axis coverage per rotation and enabling helical scanning. Reconstruction typically uses filtered back projection or iterative algorithms to create a volume from the acquired data. MSCT improves temporal resolution and throughput but may require dose-management strategies to mitigate increased exposure and can introduce cone-beam or z-axis artifacts that are addressed in software and hardware design.