Atsushi Momose

First Talbot interferometry in the hard X-ray region was demonstrated using a pair of transmission gratings made by forming gold stripes on glass plates. By aligning the gratings on the optical axis of X-rays with a separation that caused the Talbot effect by the first grating, moiré fringes were produced inclining one grating slightly against the other around the optical axis. A phase object placed in front of the first grating was detected by moiré-fringe bending. Using the technique of phase-

Since the middle of the 1990s, X-ray phase imaging including phase tomography has been attracting increasing attention. The advantage of X-ray phase imaging is that an extremely high sensitivity is achieved for weak-absorbing materials, such as biological soft tissues, which generate a poor contrast by conventional methods. Medical and biological imaging is the main target of X-ray phase imaging, and several trials using synchrotron radiation sources and laboratory sources have been made. Measur

Phase-contrast radiography using an x-ray interferometer is presented for observing organic matter. High sensitivity of phase-contrast radiography is demonstrated with a rat cerebellar specimen without staining it with a contrast medium. The layer structure of the cerebellum can be observed in the obtained image while there is no clear structure in the corresponding absorption-contrast image. Quantitative image analysis is made possible by converting an x-ray interference pattern to an x-ray pha

The X-ray phase tomography of biological samples is reported, which is based on X-ray Talbot interferometry. Its imaging principle is described in detail, and imaging results obtained for a cancerous rabbit liver and a mouse tail with synchrotron radiation are presented. Because an amplitude grating is needed to construct an X-ray Talbot interferometer, a high-aspect-ratio grating pattern was fabricated by X-ray lithography and gold electroplating. X-ray Talbot interferometry has an advantage th

X-ray interferometry for imaging applications is discussed with a review of X-ray interferometric imaging activities reported to date. Phase measurement and phase tomography based on X-ray interferometry are also presented. Finally the advantage of X-ray interferometric imaging in comparison with other phase-sensitive X-ray imaging methods is discussed.

A novel three-dimensional x-ray imaging method has been developed by combining a phase-contrast x-ray imaging technique with x-ray computed tomography. This phase-contrast x-ray computed tomography (PCX-CT) provides sectional images of organic specimens that would produce absorption-contrast x-ray CT images with little contrast. Comparing PCX-CT images of rat cerebellum and cancerous rabbit liver specimens with corresponding absorption-contrast CT images shows that PCX-CT is much more sensitive

X-ray Talbot interferometry, which uses two transmission gratings, has the advantage that broad energy bandwidth x-rays can be used. We demonstrate the use of white synchrotron radiation for high-speed X-ray phase imaging and tomography in combination with an X-ray Talbot interferometer. The moiré fringe visibility over 20% was attained, enabling quantitative phase measurement. X-ray phase images with a frame rate of 500 f/s and an X-ray phase tomogram with a scan time of 0.5 s were obtained suc

X-ray Talbot interferometry is attractive as a method for X-ray phase imaging and phase tomography for objects that weakly absorb X-rays. Because X-ray Talbot interferometry has the advantage that X-rays of a broad energy bandwidth can be used, high-speed X-ray phase imaging is possible with white synchrotron radiation. In this paper, we demonstrate time-resolved three-dimensional observation with X-ray Talbot interferometry (namely, four-dimensional X-ray phase tomography). Differential phase i

With the aim of clinical applications of X-ray phase imaging based on Talbot-Lau-type grating interferometry to joint diseases and breast cancer, machines employing a conventional X-ray generator have been developed and installed in hospitals. The machine operation especially for diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis is described, which relies on the fact that cartilage in finger joints can be depicted with a dose of several milligray. The palm of a volunteer observed with 19 s exposure (total scan ti

The ability of phase-contrast x-ray imaging to depict blood vessels without contrast agents was tested by observing livers of a mouse and a rat with synchrotron x rays. Livers were excised by tying arteries and veins to prevent blood from flowing out of the liver. An x-ray interferometer was used to obtain x-ray phase contrast. With the technique of phase-shifting x-ray interferometry, the image mapping x-ray phase shift caused by a liver was measured. The x-ray phase shift caused by blood was s

X-ray phase imaging based on the Lau effect is demonstrated with an incoherent laboratory X-ray source. Its optical configuration resembles the inverse geometry of the X-ray Talbot–Lau interferometer, which employs a large-area amplitude grating. However, the proposed approach avoids the use and hence fabrication difficulty of such a grating, which is advantageous when constructing an X-ray phase imaging apparatus. With a Mo-target source, differential phase images of polymer spheres were succes

Apparatus for phase-contrast X-ray computed tomography using a monolithic X-ray interferometer is presented with some observational results for human breast tissues. Structures characteristic of the tissues were revealed in the phase-contrast tomograms. The procedure of image analysis consists of phase retrieval from X-ray interference patterns and tomographic image reconstruction from the retrieved phase shift. Next, feasibility of phase-contrast imaging using a two-crystal X-ray interferometer