Quality and parameter control of X-ray absorption gratings by angular X-ray transmission.

Here we report on a non-destructive, spatially resolving and easy to implement quality and parameter control method for high aspect ratio X-ray absorption gratings. Based on angular X-ray transmission measurements, our proposed technique allows to determine the duty cycle, the transmittance, the height, as well as the local inclination of the absorbing grating structures. A key advantage of the presented method is a fast and extensive grating quality evaluation without the need of implementing an entire grating interferometer. In addition to the local and surface-based analysis using a scanning electron microscope, our non-destructive method provides global averaged macroscopic and spatially resolved grating structure information without the requirement of resolving individual grating lines.

Talbot-Lau x-ray phase-contrast setup for fast scanning of large samples.

Compared to conventional attenuation x-ray radiographic imaging, the x-ray Talbot-Lau technique provides further information about the scattering and the refractive properties of the object in the beam path. Hence, this additional information should improve the diagnostic process concerning medical applications and non-destructive testing. Nevertheless, until now, due to grating fabrication process, Talbot-Lau imaging suffers from small grating sizes (70 mm diameter). This leads to long acquisition times for imaging large objects. Stitching the gratings is one solution. Another one consists of scanning Talbot-Lau setups. In this publication, we present a compact and very fast scanning setup which enables imaging of large samples. With this setup a maximal scanning velocity of 71.7 mm/s is possible. A resolution of 4.1 lines/mm can be achieved. No complex alignment procedures are necessary while the field of view comprises 17.5 × 150 cm2. An improved reconstruction algorithm concerning the scanning approach, which increases robustness with respect to mechanical instabilities, has been developed and is presented. The resolution of the setup in dependence of the scanning velocity is evaluated. The setup imaging qualities are demonstrated using a human knee ex-vivo as an example for a high absorbing human sample.

Large field-of-view tiled grating structures for X-ray phase-contrast imaging.

X-ray grating-based interferometry promises unique new diagnostic possibilities in medical imaging and materials analysis. To transfer this method from scientific laboratories or small-animal applications to clinical radiography applications, compact setups with a large field of view (FoV) are required. Currently the FoV is limited by the grating area, which is restricted due to the complex manufacturing process. One possibility to increase the FoV is tiling individual grating tiles to create one large area grating mounted on a carrier substrate. We investigate theoretically the accuracy needed for a tiling process in all degrees of freedom by applying a simulation approach. We show how the resulting precision requirements can be met using a custom-built frame for exact positioning. Precise alignment is achieved by comparing the fringe patterns of two neighboring grating tiles in a grating interferometer. With this method, the FoV can be extended to practically any desired length in one dimension. First results of a phase-contrast scanning setup with a full FoV of 384 mm × 24 mm show the suitability of this method.

Simulation of aperture-optimised refractive lenses for hard X-ray full field microscopy.

The aperture of refractive X-ray lenses is limited by absorption and geometry. We introduce a specific simulation method to develop an aperture-optimized lens design for hard X-ray full field microscopy. The aperture-optimized lens, referred to as Taille-lens, allows for high spatial resolution as well as homogeneous image quality. This is achieved by the individual adaptation of the apertures of hundreds of lens elements of an X-ray imaging lens to the respective microscopy setup. For full field microscopy, the simulations result in lenses with both a large entrance and exit aperture and lens elements with smaller apertures in the middle of the lens.

Designing the phase grating for Talbot-Lau phase-contrast imaging systems: a simulation and experiment study.

The performance of a Talbot-Lau interferometer depends to a great extent on its visibility. This means, to obtain high quality phase-contrast and dark-field images a high visibility is mandatory. Several parameters influence the visibility of such a system, like for example the x-ray spectrum, the inter-grating distances or the parameters of the three gratings. In this multidimensional space, wave field simulations help to find the optimal combination of the grating specifications to construct a setup with a high visibility while retaining a fixed angular sensitivity. In this work we specifically analyzed the influence of the G1 grating duty cycle in simulations and experiments. We show that there is a lot of room for improvement by varying the duty cycle of the phase-shifting grating G1. As a result, by employing a third-integer duty cycle we can increase the visibility to up to 53 % in a laboratory setup with a polychromatic spectrum. The achieved visibility is more than two times higher compared to the result with a standard-type setup. This visibility gain allows a dose reduction by a factor of 5 preserving the same image quality.

Time resolved X-ray Dark-Field Tomography Revealing Water Transport in a Fresh Cement Sample.

Grating-based X-ray dark-field tomography is a promising technique for biomedical and materials research. Even if the resolution of conventional X-ray tomography does not suffice to resolve relevant structures, the dark-field signal provides valuable information about the sub-pixel microstructural properties of the sample. Here, we report on the potential of X-ray dark-field imaging to be used for time-resolved three-dimensional studies. By repeating consecutive tomography scans on a fresh cement sample, we were able to study the hardening dynamics of the cement paste in three dimensions over time. The hardening of the cement was accompanied by a strong decrease in the dark-field signal pointing to microstructural changes within the cement paste. Furthermore our results hint at the transport of water from certain limestone grains, which were embedded in the sample, to the cement paste during the process of hardening. This is indicated by an increasing scattering signal which was observed for two of the six tested limestone grains. Electron microscopy images revealed a distinct porous structure only for those two grains which supports the following interpretation of our results. When the water filled pores of the limestone grains empty during the experiment the scattering signal of the grains increases.

Quantitative characterization of X-ray lenses from two fabrication techniques with grating interferometry.

Refractive X-ray lenses are in use at a large number of synchrotron experiments. Several materials and fabrication techniques are available for their production, each having their own strengths and drawbacks. We present a grating interferometer for the quantitative analysis of single refractive X-ray lenses and employ it for the study of a beryllium point focus lens and a polymer line focus lens, highlighting the differences in the outcome of the fabrication methods. The residuals of a line fit to the phase gradient are used to quantify local lens defects, while shape aberrations are quantified by the decomposition of the retrieved wavefront phase profile into either Zernike or Legendre polynomials, depending on the focus and aperture shape. While the polymer lens shows better material homogeneity, the beryllium lens shows higher shape accuracy.

Experimental Realisation of High-sensitivity Laboratory X-ray Grating-based Phase-contrast Computed Tomography.

The possibility to perform high-sensitivity X-ray phase-contrast imaging with laboratory grating-based phase-contrast computed tomography (gbPC-CT) setups is of great interest for a broad range of high-resolution biomedical applications. However, achieving high sensitivity with laboratory gbPC-CT setups still poses a challenge because several factors such as the reduced flux, the polychromaticity of the spectrum, and the limited coherence of the X-ray source reduce the performance of laboratory gbPC-CT in comparison to gbPC-CT at synchrotron facilities. In this work, we present our laboratory X-ray Talbot-Lau interferometry setup operating at 40 kVp and describe how we achieve the high sensitivity yet unrivalled by any other laboratory X-ray phase-contrast technique. We provide the angular sensitivity expressed via the minimum resolvable refraction angle both in theory and experiment, and compare our data with other differential phase-contrast setups. Furthermore, we show that the good stability of our high-sensitivity setup allows for tomographic scans, by which even the electron density can be retrieved quantitatively as has been demonstrated in several preclinical studies.

Energy weighted x-ray dark-field imaging.

The dark-field image obtained in grating-based x-ray phase-contrast imaging can provide information about the objects' microstructures on a scale smaller than the pixel size even with low geometric magnification. In this publication we demonstrate that the dark-field image quality can be enhanced with an energy-resolving pixel detector. Energy-resolved x-ray dark-field images were acquired with a 16-energy-channel photon-counting pixel detector with a 1 mm thick CdTe sensor in a Talbot-Lau x-ray interferometer. A method for contrast-noise-ratio (CNR) enhancement is proposed and validated experimentally. In measurements, a CNR improvement by a factor of 1.14 was obtained. This is equivalent to a possible radiation dose reduction of 23%.

Large-aperture refractive lenses for momentum-resolved spectroscopy with hard X-rays.

One-dimensional kinoform and prism refractive lenses with large aperture and high transmittance at 22 keV have been investigated. A 12.0 µm focus size (full width at half-maximum) and an effective aperture of 0.85 mm, at a focal length of 705 mm and 21.747 keV, were achieved.

Imaging of metastatic lymph nodes by X-ray phase-contrast micro-tomography.

Invasive cancer causes a change in density in the affected tissue, which can be visualized by x-ray phase-contrast tomography. However, the diagnostic value of this method has so far not been investigated in detail. Therefore, the purpose of this study was, in a blinded manner, to investigate whether malignancy could be revealed by non-invasive x-ray phase-contrast tomography in lymph nodes from breast cancer patients. Seventeen formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lymph nodes from 10 female patients (age range 37-83 years) diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinomas were analyzed by X-ray phase-contrast tomography. Ten lymph nodes had metastatic deposits and 7 were benign. The phase-contrast images were analyzed according to standards for conventional CT images looking for characteristics usually only visible by pathological examinations. Histopathology was used as reference. The result of this study was that the diagnostic sensitivity of the image analysis for detecting malignancy was 100% and the specificity was 87%. The positive predictive value was 91% for detecting malignancy and the negative predictive value was 100%. We conclude that x-ray phase-contrast imaging can accurately detect density variations to obtain information regarding lymph node involvement previously inaccessible with standard absorption x-ray imaging.

Highly precise micro-retroreflector array fabricated by the LIGA process and its application as tapped delay line filter.

We report on the fabrication of a one-dimensional micro-retroreflector array with a pitch of 100 µm. The array was fabricated by x-ray lithography and the lithographie, galvanik und abformung (LIGA) process in a 1 mm thick poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layer and subsequently covered with Au. The area of the array is 1 mm×10 mm. The high precision of the LIGA-based fabrication process allows one to use the element in spectrometers. Here, it is suggested to apply it to the implementation of a transversal filter for femtosecond pulses. We present a theoretical description of the performance of the retroreflector array as a filtering device and show experimental results.

Experimental results from a preclinical X-ray phase-contrast CT scanner.

To explore the future clinical potential of improved soft-tissue visibility with grating-based X-ray phase contrast (PC), we have developed a first preclinical computed tomography (CT) scanner featuring a rotating gantry. The main challenge in the transition from previous bench-top systems to a preclinical scanner are phase artifacts that are caused by minimal changes in the grating alignment during gantry rotation. In this paper, we present the first experimental results from the system together with an adaptive phase recovery method that corrects for these phase artifacts. Using this method, we show that the scanner can recover quantitatively accurate Hounsfield units in attenuation and phase. Moreover, we present a first tomography scan of biological tissue with complementary information in attenuation and phase contrast. The present study hence demonstrates the feasibility of grating-based phase contrast with a rotating gantry for the first time and paves the way for future in vivo studies on small animal disease models (in the mid-term future) and human diagnostics applications (in the long-term future).

X-ray grating interferometer for biomedical imaging applications at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

An X-ray grating interferometer was installed at the BL13W beamline of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) for biomedical imaging applications. Compared with imaging results from conventional absorption-based micro-computed tomography, this set-up has shown much better soft tissue imaging capability. In particular, using the set-up, the carotid artery and the carotid vein in a formalin-fixed mouse can be visualized in situ without contrast agents, paving the way for future applications in cancer angiography studies. The overall results have demonstrated the broad prospects of the existing set-up for biomedical imaging applications at SSRF.

X-ray vector radiography for bone micro-architecture diagnostics.

The understanding of large biophysical systems at the systems level often depends on a precise knowledge of their microstructure. This is difficult to obtain, especially in vivo, because most imaging methods are either limited in terms of achievable field of view, or make use of penetrating ionizing radiations such as x-rays, in which case the resolution is severely limited by the deposited dose. Here, we describe a new method, x-ray vector radiography (XVR), which yields various types of information about the local orientation, anisotropy and average size of the sample microstructures. We demonstrate the feasibility by showing first experimental XVRs of human vertebra bone samples, giving information on the trabecular structures even with a pixel resolution of half a millimetre, much larger than the structures themselves. This last point is critical for the development of low-dose measurement methods which will allow for in vivo studies and potentially in the future for new medical diagnostics methods of bone metabolic disorder diseases such as osteoporosis.

X-ray grating interferometer for materials-science imaging at a low-coherent wiggler source.

X-ray phase-contrast radiography and tomography enable to increase contrast for weakly absorbing materials. Recently, x-ray grating interferometers were developed that extend the possibility of phase-contrast imaging from highly brilliant radiation sources like third-generation synchrotron sources to non-coherent conventional x-ray tube sources. Here, we present the first installation of a three grating x-ray interferometer at a low-coherence wiggler source at the beamline W2 (HARWI II) operated by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht at the second-generation synchrotron storage ring DORIS (DESY, Hamburg, Germany). Using this type of the wiggler insertion device with a millimeter-sized source allows monochromatic phase-contrast imaging of centimeter sized objects with high photon flux. Thus, biological and materials-science imaging applications can highly profit from this imaging modality. The specially designed grating interferometer currently works in the photon energy range from 22 to 30 keV, and the range will be increased by using adapted x-ray optical gratings. Our results of an energy-dependent visibility measurement in comparison to corresponding simulations demonstrate the performance of the new setup.

Development of a prototype gantry system for preclinical x-ray phase-contrast computed tomography.

PURPOSE: To explore the potential of grating-based x-ray phase-contrast imaging for clinical applications, a first compact gantry system was developed. It is designed such that it can be implemented into an in-vivo small-animal phase-contrast computed tomography (PC-CT) scanner. The purpose of the present study is to assess the accuracy and quantitativeness of the described gantry in both absorption and phase-contrast. METHODS: A phantom, containing six chemically well-defined liquids, was constructed. A tomography scan with cone-beam reconstruction of this phantom was performed yielding the spatial distribution of the linear attenuation coefficient µ and decrement δ of the complex refractive index. Theoretical values of µ and δ were calculated for each liquid from tabulated data and compared with the experimentally measured values. Additionally, a color-fused image representation is proposed to display the complementary absorption and phase-contrast information in a single image. RESULTS: Experimental and calculated data of the phantom agree well confirming the quantitativeness and accuracy of the reconstructed spatial distributions of µ and δ. The proposed color-fused image representation, which combines the complementary absorption and phase information, considerably helps in distinguishing the individual substances. CONCLUSIONS: The concept of grating-based phase-contrast computed tomography (CT) can be implemented into a compact, cone-beam geometry gantry setup. The authors believe that this work represents an important milestone in translating phase-contrast x-ray imaging from previous proof-of-principle experiments to first preclinical biomedical imaging applications on small-animal models.

X-ray phase-contrast tomography of porcine fat and rind.

X-ray computed tomography (CT) has recently received increased attention in the food science community. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how grating based phase-contrast CT can provide contrast superior to standard absorption based CT. The method of phase-contrast CT is applied to two samples of porcine subcutaneous fat and rind. The additional contrast obtained may be used for quality testing, to investigate variations in fatty acid composition of the fat-fraction, and density variations in the meat-fraction. The possibility of integrating the method into an abattoir environment is discussed.

Integrated microinterferometric sensor for in-plane displacement measurement.

We present an integrated sensor based on a grating interferometer (GI) for in-plane displacement measurement in microregions of large engineering structures. The system concept and design, based on a monolithic version of Czarnek's GI, is discussed in detail. The technology chain of the GI measurement head (MH), including the master fabrication and further replication by means of hot embossing, is described. The numerical analyses of the MH by means of geometric ray tracing and scalar wave propagation are provided. They allow us to determine geometrical tolerance values as well as refractive index homogeneity and nonflatness of MH working surfaces, which provide proper beam guiding. Finally the demonstrative measurement performed with a model of the sensor is presented.