Benchtop phase-contrast X-ray imaging.
Clinical radiography has traditionally been based on contrast obtained from absorption when X-rays pass through the body. The contrast obtained from traditional radiography can be rather poor, particularly when it comes to soft tissue. A wide range of media of interest in materials science, biology and medicine exhibit very weak absorption contrast, but they nevertheless produce significant phase shifts with X-rays. The use of phase information for imaging purposes is therefore an attractive prospect. Some of the X-ray phase-contrast imaging methods require highly monochromatic plane wave radiation and sophisticated X-ray optics. However, the propagation-based phase-contrast imaging method adapted in this paper is a relatively simple method to implement, essentially requiring only a microfocal X-ray tube and electronic detection. In this paper, we present imaging results obtained from two different benchtop X-ray sources employing the free space propagation method. X-ray phase-contrast imaging provides higher contrast in many samples, including biological tissues that have negligible absorption contrast.
Gundogdu
O
O
Department of Physics, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK. o.gundogdu@surrey.ac.uk
Nirgianaki
E
E
Che Ismail
E
E
Jenneson
P M
PM
Bradley
D A
DA
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007368:Interferometry; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011853:Radiobiology; D011859:Radiography / Q000379:methods*; D017356:Synchrotrons; D014863:Wasps / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014965:X-Rays