Multimodal Image Fusion for X-ray Grating Interferometry

Abstract

X-ray grating interferometry (XGI) can provide multiple image modalities. It does so by utilizing three different contrast mechanisms—attenuation, refraction (differential phase-shift), and scattering (dark-field)—in a single dataset. Combining all three imaging modalities could create new opportunities for the characterization of material structure features that conventional attenuation-based methods are unable probe. In this study, we proposed an image fusion scheme based on the non-subsampled contourlet transform and spiking cortical model (NSCT-SCM) to combine the tri-contrast images retrieved from XGI. It incorporated three main steps: (i) image denoising based on Wiener filtering, (ii) the NSCT-SCM tri-contrast fusion algorithm, and (iii) image enhancement using contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization, adaptive sharpening, and gamma correction. The tri-contrast images of the frog toes were used to validate the proposed approach. Moreover, the proposed method was compared with three other image fusion methods by several figures of merit. The experimental evaluation results highlighted the efficiency and robustness of the proposed scheme, with less noise, higher contrast, more information, and better details.

Single-Shot Phase-Contrast Imaging with a Single Grating

“…The use of a grating interferometer (GI) has enabled the implementation of X-ray phase-contrast imaging in traditional X-ray tube laboratories [1][2][3][4][5]. This technology, based on GI, allows the simultaneous acquisition of differential phase-contrast and dark-field signals along with absorption images, thus, providing superior capabilities in fields such as biological imaging, materials science, and non-destructive testing [6][7][8][9].…”

Recent Advances in Sensor Technology for Healthcare and Biomedical Applications (Volume II)

“…Haoran Liu et al [4] proposed an image-fusion scheme based on the non-subsampled contourlet transform and spiking cortical model (NSCT-SCM) to combine the tri-contrast images retrieved from X-ray grating interferometry (XGI). It incorporated three major steps: denoising, the NSCT-SCM fusion algorithm, and enhancement.…”