Monochromatic Propagation-Based Phase-Contrast Microscale Computed-Tomography System with a Rotating-Anode Source

L Brombal,A Olivo,M Endrizzi,P De Coppi,E.J Forty,L Urbani,J Jiang,R Longo,R.C Chambers,G Kallon,S Savvidis

doi:10.1103/physrevapplied.11.034004

Abstract

Phase-sensitive x-ray imaging techniques offer significant advantages over conventional absorption radiography, especially for low-$Z$ samples (like your body), for which absorption contrast is weak. While standard for dedicated synchrotron beamlines, these techniques remain challenging for compact lab-based systems. The authors present a laboratory setup for x-ray phase-contrast imaging, based on a high-power rotating-anode source and confocal multilayer mirror, which at once attains high flux, spatial and temporal coherence. This detailed description of an innovative system plus examples of biomedical applications is expected to have real impact on the x-ray-imaging community.

Highlights

X-ray imaging is arguably the most used technique for nondestructive investigation of internal features in bulk samples, covering a vast range of applications from industrial inspection to clinical radiology
We present an experimental setup for monochromatic propagation-based x-ray phase-contrast imaging based on a conventional rotating-copper-anode source, capable of an integrated flux up to 108 photons/s at 8 keV
The blurring due to the detector response is of 12 μm full width at half maximum (FWHM), while the source size projected at the sample position is of about 10 μm, resulting in an overall resolution of about 14 μm FWHM

Summary

Introduction

X-ray imaging is arguably the most used technique for nondestructive investigation of internal features in bulk samples, covering a vast range of applications from industrial inspection to clinical radiology. Conventional radiography relies on the contrast arising from the different absorption properties of details within a sample. A key limitation of conventional x-ray approaches is that, when dealing with low-Z materials (e.g., soft tissues and plastics), absorption differences can become so small that the sample features are no longer distinguishable. In this context, x-ray phase-contrast imaging (XPCI) offers significant advantages, because it is sensitive to the refractive properties of the sample.

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