In one embodiment, there is provided a micro-CT (computed tomography) apparatus. The micro-CT apparatus includes an x-ray source coupled to a source robotic arm, an x-ray detector coupled to a detector robotic arm, and a computing device. The computing device includes a data acquisition module and a reconstruction module. The data acquisition module is configured to acquire local scan data of a volume of interest (VOI) contained in an imaging object. The reconstruction module is configured to reconstruct an image of the VOI based, at least in part, on the local scan data, and based, at least in part, on background compensation data.