‘Taking X-ray phase contrast imaging into mainstream applications’ and its satellite workshop ‘Real and reciprocal space X-ray imaging’

Abstract

A double event, supported as part of the Royal Society scientific meetings, was organized in February 2013 in London and at Chicheley Hall in Buckinghamshire by Dr A. Olivo and Prof. I. Robinson. The theme that joined the two events was the use of X-ray phase in novel imaging approaches, as opposed to conventional methods based on X-ray attenuation. The event in London, led by Olivo, addressed the main roadblocks that X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI) is encountering in terms of commercial translation, for clinical and industrial applications. The main driver behind this is the development of new approaches that enable XPCI, traditionally a synchrotron method, to be performed with conventional laboratory sources, thus opening the way to its deployment in clinics and industrial settings. The satellite meeting at Chicheley Hall, led by Robinson, focused on the new scientific developments that have recently emerged at specialized facilities such as third-generation synchrotrons and free-electron lasers, which enable the direct measurement of the phase shift induced by a sample from intensity measurements, typically in the far field. The two events were therefore highly complementary, in terms of covering both the more applied/translational and the blue-sky aspects of the use of phase in X-ray research. optics, image processing

Phase-Contrast Micro-Computed Tomography Measurements of the Intraocular Pressure-Induced Deformation of the Porcine Lamina Cribrosa

“…Further, the signal-to-noise ratio is high even at low exposure time thanks to the high flux of the X-ray beam. Although conventional laboratory sources do not have these advantages at the moment, commercial PC μ CT machines are being developed and should facilitate these experiments in future [47]. To ensure that we had specimens ready to test during our allocated window of time at the synchrotron, we collected the eyes in advance and maintained them frozen until the time of experimentation.…”

Multivariate hyperspectral data analytics across length scales to probe compositional, phase, and strain heterogeneities in electrode materials

“…Future work will focus on acquiring and utilizing phase images provided by X-ray ptychography with greater spectral resolution to maximize contrast in individual particles and cross-sectioned single crystals. 66 , 67 , 68 …”

Edge-illumination X-ray phase contrast imaging: matching the imaging method to the detector technology

“…Following pioneering developments based around the use of perfect crystals, either in the arrangement of an interferometer [2] or used as "analysers" of micro-radian changes in the beam direction due to X-ray refraction [3], XPCI methods became much more widely studied since the mid-90s, based on the use of either synchrotron radiation [4], [5] or micro-focal sources [6], [7]. The use of these sources was made necessary by the stringent requirements that most XPCI methods impose in terms of source (especially spatial) coherence, a limiting factor that has effectively limited its widespread use in "real-world" applications [8].…”