<title>Phase contrast imaging with micro focus x-ray tube</title>

Abstract

Now the phase-contrast (PC) radiography with monochromatic synchmtron radiation sources is very promising for use in non-destructive industrial control, medical and biological X-ray imaging. Unfortunately synchrotron sources are rather expensive for laboratory practice. We are developing a phase-contrast imaging with a micro focus X-ray tube. We performed numerical calculations with Fresnel-Kirchhgoff formalism to obtain values of PC-signals taking into account polychromatic nature of X-ray radiation, a finite size of a source, and a finite resolution of a detector including spectral sensitivity of the detector. We conducted experiments with a micro focus X-ray tube to find absolute values of PC signals for some models of biological tissue and technical materials in presence of scattering X-rays that emerge from the object. By means of simple set of the experimental arrangement it is possible to obtain the phase-contrast image map of the boundaries between regions with the density difference of order ~1 g/cm³. Under experimental conditions the minimal detected PC-signal is found for the plastic fiber 45 tm in diameter. Examples ofthe X-ray PC-images of fishes, images of air bubbles and ribs, slag inclusions in joint weld of Al-Li alloy materials, and images of sapphire microspheres for cellular metallic structures are presented.