title: Noise properties and task-based evaluation of diffraction-enhanced imaging.
abstract: Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) is an emerging x-ray imaging method that simultaneously yields x-ray attenuation and refraction images and holds great promise for soft-tissue imaging. The DEI has been mainly studied using synchrotron sources, but efforts have been made to transition the technology to more practical implementations using conventional x-ray sources. The main technical challenge of this transition lies in the relatively lower x-ray flux obtained from conventional sources, leading to photon-limited data contaminated by Poisson noise. Several issues that must be understood in order to design and optimize DEI imaging systems with respect to noise performance are addressed. Specifically, we: (a) develop equations describing the noise properties of DEI images, (b) derive the conditions under which the DEI algorithm is statistically optimal,
authors.affiliation: Illinois Institute of Technology , Medical Imaging Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States.
authors.forename: Jovan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Brankov
authors.affiliation: Illinois Institute of Technology , Medical Imaging Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saiz-Herranz
authors.affiliation: Illinois Institute of Technology , Medical Imaging Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States.
authors.forename: Miles N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Wernick
keywords: analyzer-based imaging; diffraction-enhanced imaging; noise analysis; phase-sensitive imaging; synchrotron; x-ray