Bioengineering visiting scholar in Klatt Lab facilitates scan of dinosaur SUE bones

Posted on February 15, 2019
Dinosaur Sue
today.uic.edu
Researchers hope scan will reveal the cause of deformations that have remained a mystery for decades

Normally a bone CT scan over at UIC’s Outpatient Care Center would not cause a stir among Chicago residents and local media. But most patients who undergo a scan are not 67 million years old like the Field Museum’s SUE the Tyrannosaurus rex.

The bones, which included a humerus, fibula and fused spinal vertebrae, were transported over to campus by UIC bioengineering fellow Rolf Reiter. Reiter is currently working as a visiting scholar in the Klatt Lab at the university.

Reiter and his colleagues at Berlin’s Museum of Natural History and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin are hoping improved CT technology will help them discover the causes of several deformations in SUE’s bones that have puzzled researchers for decades. In addition to solving the mystery, the researchers hope the scans will be beneficial for humans by providing insight into pathologies from millions of years ago and insights into new diagnostic techniques.

The story of the bone scans has been covered WBEZ, NBC 5 News, WBBM News Radio,  ABC 7 News, The Chicago Sun Times and CBS 2 News.

The results of the scans are expected to be released in the upcoming months.

T. rex bones come to UIC for scanning Heading link

Modified on February 26, 2019