Grating-based x-ray phase contrast imaging has the potential to be applied in future medical applications as it is compatible with both laboratory and synchrotron source. However, information retrieval methods are important because acquisition speed, scanning mode, image quality, and radiation dose depend on them. Phase-stepping （PS） is a widely used method to retrieve information, while angular signal radiography （ASR） is a newly established method. In this manuscript, signal-to-noise ratios （SNRs） of ASR are compared with that of PS. Numerical experiments are performed to validate theoretical results. SNRs comparison shows that for refraction and scattering images ASR has higher SNR than PS method, while for absorption image both methods have same SNR. Therefore, our conclusions would have guideline in future preclinical and clinical applications.
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.
A new method in diffraction-enhanced imaging computed tomography （DEI-CT） that follows the idea developed by Chapman et al. [Chapman D, Thomlinson W, Johnston R E, Washburn D, Pisano E, Gmur N, Zhong Z, Menk R, Arfelli F and Sayers D 1997 Phys. Med. BioL 42 2015] in 1997 is proposed in this paper. Merged with a ＂reverse projections＂ algorithm, only two sets of projection datasets at two defined orientations of the analyzer crystal are needed to reconstruct the linear absorption coefficient, the decrement of the real part of the refractive index and the linear scattering coefficient of the sample. Not only does this method reduce the delivered dose to the sample without degrading the image quality, but, compared with the existing DEI-CT approaches, it simplifies data-acquisition procedures. Experimental results confirm the reliability of this new method for DEI-CT applications.
Diffraction enhanced imaging （DEI） has been widely applied in many fields, especially when imaging low-Z samples or when the difference in the attenuation coefficient between different regions in the sample is too small to be detected. Recent developments of this technique have presented a need for a new software package for data analysis. Here, the Diffraction Enhanced Image Reconstructor （DEIReconstructor）, developed in Matlab, is presented. DEIReconstructor has a user-friendly graphical user interface and runs under any of the 32~bit or 64- bit Microsoft Windows operating systems including XP and WinT. Many of its features are integrated to support imaging preprocessing, extract absorption, refractive and scattering information of diffraction enhanced imaging and allow for parallel-beam tomography reconstruction for DEI-CT. Furthermore, many other useful functions are also implemented in order to simplify the data analysis and the presentation of results. The compiled software package is freely available.
