title: X-ray propagation-based equally sloped tomography for mouse brain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The outstanding functional importance of the brain implies a strong need for brain imaging modalities. However, the current imaging approaches that target the brain in rodents remain suboptimal.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this paper, X-ray propagation-based phase contrast imaging combined with equally sloped tomography (PPCI-EST) was employed to nondestructively investigate the mouse brain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The grey and white matters, which have extremely small differences in electron density, were clearly discriminated. The fine structures, including the corpus callosum (cc), the optic chiasma (ox) and the caudate putamen (CPu), were revealed. Compared to the filtered back projection reconstruction, the PPCI-EST significantly reduce projection number while maintaining sufficient image quality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It could be a potential tool for fast and low-dose phase-contrast imaging to biomedical specimens.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yudan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Guangzhao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Honglan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Guohao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Med-X Research Institute and School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Med-X Research Institute and School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Yuan
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tiqiao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
keywords: X-ray propagation-based phase contrast imaging; equally sloped tomography; mouse brain