Noise analysis of grating-based x-ray differential phase-contrast imaging with angular signal radiography

X-ray phase-contrast imaging is one of the novel techniques,and has potential to enhance image quality and provide the details of inner structures nondestructively.In this work,we investigate quantitatively signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) of grating-based x-ray phase contrast imaging(GBPCI) system by employing angular signal radiography(ASR).Moreover,photon statistics and mechanical error that is a major source of noise are investigated in detail.Results show the dependence of SNR on the system parameters and the effects on the extracted absorption,refraction and scattering images.Our conclusions can be used to optimize the system design for upcoming practical applications in the areas such as material science and biomedical imaging.     

Single-shot grating-based x-ray differential phase contrast imaging with a modified analyzer grating

X-ray grating interferometer has attracted widely attention in the past years due to its capability in achieving x-ray phase contrast imaging with low brilliance source. However, the widely used phase stepping information extraction method reduces system stability and prolongs data acquisition time by several times compared with conventional x-ray absorptionbased imaging. The mechanical stepping can be avoided by using a staggered grating, but at the cost of low vertical spatial resolution. In this paper, employing a modified staggered grating and the angular signal radiography, we proposed a single-shot grating-based x-ray differential phase contrast imaging with decent vertical spatial resolution. The theoretical framework was deduced and proved by numerical experiments. Absorption, phase, and scattering computed tomography can be performed without phase stepping. Therefore, we believe this fast and highly stable imaging method with decent resolution would be widely applied in x-ray grating-based phase contrast imaging.     

A user-friendly nano-CT image alignment and 3D reconstruction platform based on LabVIEW

X-ray computed tomography at the nanometer scale (nano-CT) offers a wide range of applications in scientific and industrial areas. Here we describe a reliable, user-friendly, and fast software package based on LabVIEW that may allow us to perform all procedures after the acquisition of raw projection images in order to obtain the inner structure of the investigated sample. A suitable image alignment process to address misalignment problems among image series due to mechanical manufacturing errors, thermal expansion, and other external factors has been considered, together with a novel fast parallel beam 3D reconstruction procedure that was developed ad hoc to perform the tomographic reconstruction. We have obtained remarkably improved reconstruction results at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility after the image calibration, the fundamental role of this image alignment procedure was confirmed, which minimizes the unwanted blurs and additional streaking artifacts that are always present in reconstructed slices. Moreover, this nano-CT image alignment and its associated 3D reconstruction procedure are fully based on LabVIEW routines, significantly reducing the data post-processing cycle, thus making the activity of the users faster and easier during experimental runs.     

免分析光栅一次曝光相位衬度成像方法

X射线光栅微分相位衬度成像技术可以观察到常规吸收衬度成像难以分辨的弱吸收物质的精细结构信息,因而在医学、材料学等研究领域具有巨大的应用前景.但传统的X射线光栅微分相位衬度成像技术由于采用分析光栅作为空间滤波器,需要采用相位步进法扫描分析光栅来获得样品的多张投影图像才能够分离出样品的吸收、折射和散射信息,因此存在样品曝光...