X-ray phase contrast can offer improved contrast in soft tissue imaging at clinical energies. To generate phase contrast in a clinical setting without the need for precisely aligned gratings and multiple exposures has traditionally required the use of specialized sources capable of producing x-ray spots on the order of 10 μm in diameter which necessarily require lengthy exposures due to the low intensity produced. We demonstrate results from two systems capable of overcoming this limitation. In the first, a polycapillary optic is employed to focus a typical clinical source to produce a small secondary source of the size required for phase contrast imaging. In the second, a grid of relatively large pitch is used along with Fourier processing to generate a phase contrast image using a large spot size source.

Date Published: 18 March 2015
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9412, Medical Imaging 2015: Physics of Medical Imaging, 941254 (18 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2082386

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9412:
Medical Imaging 2015: Physics of Medical Imaging
Christoph Hoeschen; Despina Kontos, Editor(s)