Grating-based dark-field breast imaging

Grating-based X-ray phase-contrast imaging (XPCI) is a promising modality to increase soft-tissue contrast in medical imaging and especially in the case of mammography. Several groups worldwide have performed investigations on grating-based Talbot-Lau X-ray imaging of breast tissue, but in most cases focussed on the soft tissue contrast enhancement of the differential phase image. In this contribution, we present promising measurements with a Talbot-Lau interferometer of several mastectomy breast tissue samples especially focussed on the sensitivity of the dark-field signal of microcalcifications and with a comparable dose value to conventional mammography. We can present a contrast improvement for calcifications in surrounding breast tissue for the dark-field image by a factor of 10 related to the attenuation image.