A phase-sampling method for an X-ray Talbot-Lau scanner with continuous grating movement

A Talbot-Lau scanner enables fast grating-based X-ray phase-contrast and dark-field imaging of large samples. We present a fast and robust scanning method based on continuous phase-sampling during the usual scan process. For that purpose the source grating is moved back and forth during the whole image acquisition procedure. The scanning method needs no specific detuning of the interferometer. The acquired images are compared to the results of a standard phase-stepping procedure. We show that high quality images are obtained by this continuous phase-sampling scanning method. One main advantage of the method is its independence of the occurring moirae pattern shape, thus enabling an optimal alignment of the interferometer. Furthermore, the method works with a priori unknown phase-step positions. To our knowledge, this is the first time a grating is moved continuously back and forth while also the sample is in linear motion during a continuous image acquisition in Talbot-Lau imaging.

[1]  Lars Bager Christensen,et al.  X-ray dark-field imaging for detection of foreign bodies in food , 2013 .

[2]  Marcus Radicke,et al.  Exploration of different x-ray Talbot–Lau setups for dark-field lung imaging examined in a porcine lung , 2019, Physics in medicine and biology.

[3]  Atsushi Momose,et al.  High-speed X-ray phase imaging and X-ray phase tomography with Talbot interferometer and white synchrotron radiation. , 2009, Optics express.

[4]  A. Snigirev,et al.  On the possibilities of x-ray phase contrast microimaging by coherent high-energy synchrotron radiation , 1995 .

[5]  Franz Pfeiffer,et al.  X-ray phase imaging with a grating interferometer. , 2005, Optics express.

[6]  M. Marschner,et al.  Helical X-ray phase-contrast computed tomography without phase stepping , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[7]  A Faisal,et al.  Increasing the field of view in grating based X-ray phase contrast imaging using stitched gratings. , 2016, Journal of X-ray science and technology.

[8]  Atsushi Momose,et al.  Laboratory-based X-ray phase-imaging scanner using Talbot-Lau interferometer for non-destructive testing , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[9]  E. Pisano,et al.  Diffraction enhanced x-ray imaging. , 1997, Physics in medicine and biology.

[10]  Franz Pfeiffer,et al.  Grating-based X-ray dark-field imaging: a new paradigm in radiography , 2014, Current Radiology Reports.

[11]  Thilo Michel,et al.  Simultaneous maximum-likelihood reconstruction for x-ray grating based phase-contrast tomography avoiding intermediate phase retrieval , 2013, 1307.7912.

[12]  Ludwig,et al.  Microbubbles as a scattering contrast agent for grating-based x-ray dark-field imaging , 2017 .

[13]  R. Kaufmann,et al.  Noise analysis of grating-based x-ray differential phase contrast imaging. , 2010, The Review of scientific instruments.

[14]  Marcus Radicke,et al.  Single-shot Talbot–Lau x-ray dark-field imaging of a porcine lung applying the moiré imaging approach , 2018, Physics in medicine and biology.

[15]  Marcus Radicke,et al.  On a dark-field signal generated by micrometer-sized calcifications in phase-contrast mammography , 2013, Physics in medicine and biology.

[16]  Johann Kastner,et al.  Laminate fibre structure characterisation of carbon fibre-reinforced polymers by X-ray scatter dark field imaging with a grating interferometer , 2013 .

[17]  O. Bunk,et al.  Grating interferometer based scanning setup for hard X-ray phase contrast imaging. , 2007, The Review of scientific instruments.

[18]  O. Bunk,et al.  Hard-X-ray dark-field imaging using a grating interferometer. , 2008, Nature materials.

[19]  P. Meyer,et al.  Talbot-Lau x-ray phase-contrast setup for fast scanning of large samples , 2019, Scientific Reports.

[20]  Kentaro Uesugi,et al.  4D x-ray phase contrast tomography for repeatable motion of biological samples. , 2016, The Review of scientific instruments.

[21]  Andreas Fehringer,et al.  Grating-based phase-contrast and dark-field computed tomography: a single-shot method , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[22]  Maria Seifert,et al.  Improved Reconstruction Technique for Moiré Imaging Using an X-Ray Phase-Contrast Talbot-Lau Interferometer , 2018, J. Imaging.

[23]  Thilo Michel,et al.  Noise in x-ray grating-based phase-contrast imaging. , 2011, Medical physics.

[24]  Christian Hauke,et al.  Reconstruction method for grating-based x-ray phase-contrast images without knowledge of the grating positions , 2015 .

[25]  Johann Kastner,et al.  Non-destructive characterisation of polymers and Al-alloys by polychromatic cone-beam phase contrast tomography , 2012 .

[26]  Paul C. Diemoz,et al.  Large field of view, fast and low dose multimodal phase-contrast imaging at high x-ray energy , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[27]  O. Bunk,et al.  Phase retrieval and differential phase-contrast imaging with low-brilliance X-ray sources , 2006 .

[28]  Chao Zhai,et al.  Preliminary research on body composition measurement using X-ray phase contrast imaging. , 2018, Physica medica : PM : an international journal devoted to the applications of physics to medicine and biology : official journal of the Italian Association of Biomedical Physics.

[29]  Ashley F. Stein,et al.  Interpretation of dark-field contrast and particle-size selectivity in grating interferometers. , 2011, Applied optics.

[30]  Georg Pelzer,et al.  Analytical and simulative investigations of moiré artefacts in Talbot-Lau X-ray imaging , 2017 .

[31]  Franz Pfeiffer,et al.  In-vivo X-ray Dark-Field Chest Radiography of a Pig , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[32]  Veronika Ludwig,et al.  Measurement and simulative proof concerning the visibility loss in x-ray Talbot-Lau Moiré imaging , 2017 .

[33]  U. Bonse,et al.  AN X‐RAY INTERFEROMETER , 1965 .

[34]  Marco Stampanoni,et al.  Tilted-grating approach for scanning-mode X-ray phase contrast imaging. , 2014, Optics express.

[35]  Franz Pfeiffer,et al.  High resolution laboratory grating-based X-ray phase-contrast CT , 2018, Scientific Reports.

[36]  Richard J. Fitzgerald,et al.  Phase‐Sensitive X‐Ray Imaging , 2000 .

[37]  F. Pfeiffer,et al.  Trimodal low-dose X-ray tomography , 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[38]  Maria Seifert,et al.  Non-Destructive Testing of Archaeological Findings by Grating-Based X-Ray Phase-Contrast and Dark-Field Imaging , 2018, J. Imaging.

[39]  Julia Herzen,et al.  Analysis and correction of bias induced by phase stepping jitter in grating-based X-ray phase-contrast imaging. , 2018, Optics express.

[40]  Franz Pfeiffer,et al.  Large field-of-view tiled grating structures for X-ray phase-contrast imaging. , 2017, The Review of scientific instruments.

[41]  Jonas Dittmann,et al.  Optimization Based Evaluation of Grating Interferometric Phase Stepping Series and Analysis of Mechanical Setup Instabilities , 2018, J. Imaging.

[42]  Atsushi Momose,et al.  Demonstration of phase-contrast X-ray computed tomography using an X-ray interferometer , 1995 .

[43]  C. David,et al.  Differential x-ray phase contrast imaging using a shearing interferometer , 2002 .

[44]  A. Momose,et al.  On the origin of visibility contrast in x-ray Talbot interferometry. , 2010, Optics express.

[45]  Franz Pfeiffer,et al.  Facilitated Diagnosis of Pneumothoraces in Newborn Mice Using X-ray Dark-Field Radiography , 2016, Investigative radiology.

[46]  Atsushi Momose,et al.  Phase–contrast X–ray computed tomography for observing biological soft tissues , 1996, Nature Medicine.

[47]  C. David,et al.  The First Analysis and Clinical Evaluation of Native Breast Tissue Using Differential Phase-Contrast Mammography , 2011, Investigative radiology.

[48]  Atsushi Momose,et al.  Demonstration of X-Ray Talbot Interferometry , 2003 .

[49]  F Arfelli,et al.  An innovative digital imaging set-up allowing a low-dose approach to phase contrast applications in the medical field. , 2001, Medical physics.

[50]  Gerhard Martens,et al.  Slit-scanning differential x-ray phase-contrast mammography: proof-of-concept experimental studies. , 2015, Medical physics.