X-ray phase contrast angiography using CO2as contrast agent

Abstract

We investigate the possibility of using x-ray in-line phase-contrast imaging with gaseous carbon dioxide as contrast agent to visualize small blood vessels. These are difficult to image at reasonable radiation doses using the absorption of conventional iodinated contrast agents. In-line phase contrast is a method for retrieving information on the electron density of the sample as well as the absorption, by moving the detector away from the sample to let phase variations in the transmitted x-rays develop into intensity variations at the detector. Blood vessels are normally difficult to observe in phase contrast even with iodinated contrast agents as the density difference compared to most tissues is small. Carbon dioxide is a clinically accepted x-ray contrast agent. The gas is injected into the blood stream of patients to temporarily displace the blood in a region and thereby reduce the x-ray absorption in the blood vessels. This gives a large density difference which is ideal for phase-contrast imaging. We demonstrate the possibilities of the method by imaging the arterial system of a rat kidney injected with carbon dioxide. Vessels down to 23 μm in diameter are shown. The method shows potential for live small-animal imaging.