Researchers in New Zealand have captured three-dimensional color X-rays of the human body, using an innovative tool that may eventually help diagnose cancers and blood diseases without invasive surgery.

The new scanner has its origins in a tool that contributed to research into the universe’s fundamental particles and functions much like a camera. It counts subatomic particles as they meet pixels when its electronic shutter is open. That allows it to generate high-resolution images of soft tissues, including minute disease markers.

“We can make out details of various tissues, like bones, fats, water and cartilage, all functioning together inside the human system,” said Anthony Butler, a radiologist at Otago University in New Zealand, who developed the scanner with his father, Phil Butler, a physicist.

“It really is like the upgrade from black-and-white film to color. It’s a whole new X-ray experience.”