Preliminary research on dual-energy X-ray phase-contrast imaging

• Published in: Chinese physics C Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 141 - 148
• Main Author: 韩华杰 王圣浩 高昆 王志立 张灿 杨萌 张凯 朱佩平
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IOP Publishing 01.04.2016
• Subjects: Absorption; area density; Bones; Density; dual-energy; Imaging; INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; Mathematical analysis; phase-contrast; RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE; Simulation; Soft tissues; X-ray imaging; X-rays; 双能X射线; 密度测量; 成像; 理论计算值; 相位衬度; 组织成分; 能量法; 计算面积
• ISSN: 1674-1137; 0254-3052
• DOI: 10.1088/1674-1137/40/4/048201

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry（DEXA） has been widely applied to measure the bone mineral density（BMD） and soft-tissue composition of the human body. However, the use of DEXA is greatly limited for lowZ materials such as soft tissues due to their weak absorption, while X-ray phase-contrast imaging（XPCI） shows significantly improved contrast in comparison with the conventional standard absorption-based X-ray imaging for soft tissues. In this paper, we propose a novel X-ray phase-contrast method to measure the area density of low-Z materials, including a single-energy method and a dual-energy method. The single-energy method is for the area density calculation of one low-Z material, while the dual-energy method aims to calculate the area densities of two low-Z materials simultaneously. Comparing the experimental and simulation results with the theoretical ones, the new method proves to have the potential to replace DEXA in area density measurement. The new method sets the prerequisites for a future precise and low-dose area density calculation method for low-Z materials.