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X-ray phase-contrast microtomography of soft tissues using a compact laboratory system with two-directional sensitivity

X-ray microtomography is a nondestructive, three-dimensional inspection technique applied across a vast range of fields and disciplines, ranging from research to industrial, encompassing engineering, biology, and medical research. Phase-contrast imaging extends the domain of application of x-ray mic...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Navarrete-León, Carlos, Doherty, Adam, Savvidis, Savvas, Gerli, Mattia F. M., Piredda, Giovanni, Astolfo, Alberto, Bate, David, Cipiccia, Silvia, Hagen, Charlotte K., Olivo, Alessandro, Endrizzi, Marco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Optica Publishing Group 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10575607/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37841216
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.487270
Descripción
Sumario:X-ray microtomography is a nondestructive, three-dimensional inspection technique applied across a vast range of fields and disciplines, ranging from research to industrial, encompassing engineering, biology, and medical research. Phase-contrast imaging extends the domain of application of x-ray microtomography to classes of samples that exhibit weak attenuation, thus appearing with poor contrast in standard x-ray imaging. Notable examples are low-atomic-number materials, like carbon-fiber composites, soft matter, and biological soft tissues. We report on a compact and cost-effective system for x-ray phase-contrast microtomography. The system features high sensitivity to phase gradients and high resolution, requires a low-power sealed x-ray tube, a single optical element, and fits in a small footprint. It is compatible with standard x-ray detector technologies: in our experiments, we have observed that single-photon counting offered higher angular sensitivity, whereas flat panels provided a larger field of view. The system is benchmarked against known-material phantoms, and its potential for soft-tissue three-dimensional imaging is demonstrated on small-animal organs: a piglet esophagus and a rat heart. We believe that the simplicity of the setup we are proposing, combined with its robustness and sensitivity, will facilitate accessing quantitative x-ray phase-contrast microtomography as a research tool across disciplines, including tissue engineering, materials science, and nondestructive testing in general.