Abstract
BackgroundIn recent years, X-ray phase-contrast imaging techniques have been extensively studied to visualize weakly absorbing objects. One of the most popular methods for phase-contrast imaging is in-line phase-contrast imaging (ILPCI). Combined with computed tomography (CT), phase-contrast CT can produce 3D volumetric images of samples. To date, the most common reconstruction method for phase-contrast X-ray CT imaging has been filtered back projection (FBP). However, because of the impact of respiration, lung slices cannot be reconstructed in vivo for a mouse using this method. Methods for reducing the radiation dose and the sampling time must also be considered.MethodsThis paper proposes a novel method of in vivo mouse lung in-line phase-contrast imaging that has two primary improvements compared with recent methods: 1) using a compressed sensing (CS) theory-based CT reconstruction method for the in vivo in-line phase-contrast imaging application and 2) using the breathing phase extraction method to address the lung and rib cage movement caused by a live mouse’s breathing.ResultsExperiments were performed to test the breathing phase extraction method as applied to the lung and rib cage movement of a live mouse. Results with a live mouse specimen demonstrate that our method can reconstruct images of in vivo mouse lung.ConclusionsThe results demonstrate that our method could deal with vivo mouse’s breathing and movements, meanwhile, using less sampling data than FBP while maintaining the same high quality.
Highlights
In recent years, X-ray phase-contrast imaging techniques have been extensively studied to visualize weakly absorbing objects
Phase-contrast imaging (PCI) is a new imaging mechanism intended to solve the problem of soft tissue imaging
There are three primary types of techniques that have been used for PCI: X-ray interferometry [2], diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) [3] and in-line holography [4]
Summary
X-ray phase-contrast imaging techniques have been extensively studied to visualize weakly absorbing objects. The most common reconstruction method for phase-contrast X-ray CT imaging has been filtered back projection (FBP). The lungs are the essential respiration organs in many air-breathing animals. Their principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. Imaging the lung tissue results in a low absorption contrast because the lung’s anatomical structure has multiple air-tissue alveoli. Phase-contrast imaging (PCI) is a new imaging mechanism intended to solve the problem of soft tissue imaging. PCI performs better than absorption imaging and substantially increases the X-ray contrast resolution of soft tissue imaging. There are three primary types of techniques that have been used for PCI: X-ray interferometry [2], diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) [3] and in-line holography [4]
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