Dynamic laboratory x-ray phase-contrast microtomography with structure-based prior regularisation

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Imaging Technology
• Physics

Background:

• X-ray microtomography is crucial for 3D structural analysis of optically thick samples.
• Its adaptation for 4D imaging allows monitoring dynamic processes under external stimuli.
• Limited x-ray flux at laboratory sources poses a challenge for high-resolution dynamic imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance contrast and temporal resolution in laboratory-based X-ray microtomography.
• To enable non-destructive, time-resolved 3D imaging of dynamic systems.
• To overcome limitations of conventional X-ray imaging for dynamic samples.

Main Methods:

• Utilized free-space propagation phase-contrast imaging for contrast enhancement.
• Implemented iterative reconstruction with structure-based priors from reference scans.
• Achieved high contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) improvements through combined techniques.

Main Results:

• Phase-contrast imaging increased CNR by 5.8x.
• The combined approach yielded a 29.2x CNR improvement over conventional methods.
• Enabled dynamic X-ray microtomography with 9-second temporal resolution at 10.5 μm voxel size.

Conclusions:

• The developed method significantly improves dynamic X-ray microtomography capabilities.
• Demonstrated the technique's effectiveness by imaging waterfront movement in a wooden skewer.
• This advancement opens new possibilities for studying rapid processes in various materials.