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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Non-invasive 3D-Visualization with Sub-micron Resolution Using Synchrotron-X-ray-tomography
Published on: May 27, 2008
New types of X-ray computed tomography (CT) with synchrotron radiation: fluorescent X-ray CT and phase-contrast X-ray
1Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. ttakeda@md.tsukuba.ac.jp
Abstract:
New types of X-ray computed tomography (CT), fluorescent X-ray CT and phase-contrast X-ray CT are being developed for biomedical research. While fluorescent scanning X-ray CT (FXCT) can detect specific contrast elements, or endogenous iodine, at very low content (less than 400 pg iodine of tissue in a volume of 8 x 10(-6) ml), the phase-contrast X-ray CT (PCCT) is a highly sensitive imaging technique to differentiate between different biological tissue types (based on their specific gravity variation) without the use of a contrast agent. Therefore, we can expect functional diagnosis with FXCT, and high contrast, high resolution biological imaging with PCCT. In this paper, a human thyroid gland imaged by FXCT, and a metastatic human cancerous lesion depicted using PCCT are presented. The latter method used a newly manufactured, large, monolithic, X-ray interferometer, which is described in this paper in detail.
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