A Method for X-Ray Phase Contrast and Dark-Field Imaging Using an Arrangement of Gratings in Planar Geometry

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This patent describes an advanced X-ray imaging method that uses specially arranged gratings in a novel planar geometry. The system allows simultaneous recordings of absorption, phase contrast, and dark-field images, improving the visibility of low-absorbing materials and reducing the radiation dose needed. The main innovation is fabricating the gratings so that X-rays pass through them parallel to the substrate, enabling high aspect ratio gratings suitable for high-energy X-rays and arbitrary geometries, thereby enhancing image quality and system flexibility.

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• Medical imaging such as mammography, improving the detection of soft tissue anomalies
• Industrial inspection for quality control or defect detection in materials with low X-ray absorption
• Non-destructive testing of components to reveal internal features without damaging the object
• Security screening, such as baggage scanning, to improve detection of concealed or low-contrast items
• Biological research, allowing high-contrast imaging of soft tissues or small structures in living organisms with less radiation exposure

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Improved image contrast, especially for materials with low X-ray absorption, enabling better visualization of details
• Significantly reduced radiation dose to the sample or patient, enhancing safety in medical and biological applications
• Ability to fabricate gratings with extreme aspect ratios, allowing use with high-energy X-rays and larger or thicker objects
• Increased flexibility and sensitivity over large fields of view by allowing gratings to match divergent X-ray beams
• Enables phase stepping without moving mechanical parts, leading to faster and potentially more robust imaging
• Simplifies manufacturing by using planar technology and allows for integrated detector/grating assemblies, reducing system complexity and cost

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Patent Abstract

An X-ray set-up can be suitable to record absorption, phase contrast, and dark field images of an object. The arrangement improves the visibility of low absorbing specimens and reduces the required radiation dose. The arrangement includes: a) an X-ray source; b) a set of at least two gratings; c) a position - sensitive detector with spatially modulated detection sensitivity; d) means for recording the images of the detector; e) means for evaluating the intensities for each pixel to identify the characteristic of the object for each individual pixel as an absorption and/or a differential phase contrast and/or an x-ray scattering dominated pixel; f) wherein the series of images is collected by continuously or stepwise rotating from 0 to n or 2n either the sample or the arrangement relative to the sample g) wherein the gratings are manufactured according to a novel planar geometry where the X-rays pass through the gratings parallel to the substrate, h) whereby the grating structures extend along the x-ray path which determines the phase shift and attenuation that these grating structures cause to the x-rays, being no longer given by the thickness of the structures, but by the length of the grating structures.