Neuron contacts another neuron's dendrite, soma or, less commonly, axon. Neurons such as Purkinje cells in the cerebellum can have over 1000 dendritic branches, making connections with tens of thousands of other cells; other neurons, such as the magnocellular neurons of the supraoptic nucleus, have only one or two dendrites, each of which receives thousands of synapses. Synapses can be excitatory or inhibitory and either increase or decrease activity in the target neuron, respectively. Some neurons also communicate via electrical synapses, which are direct, electrically conductive junctions between cells. In a chemical synapse, the process of synaptic transmission is as follows:
Process tomography imaging methods are used in process tomography, e.g. ultrasonic imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), electrical resistance tomography (ERT) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT), electrical capacitance tomography (ECT), magnetic induction tomography (MIT). In all cases external sensors are used to detect signals from boundary of the object, and the three-dimensional material distribution or the velocity field is computed using the measured data. Process tomography is an area of rapid growth both in terms of research and applications. There are number of challenges remaining in this area including data processing an image reconstruction, and application of imaging modalities in a real applications.