Investigation of the signature of lung tissue in X-ray grating-based phase-contrast imaging

Abstract: Purpose: Grating-based X-ray phase-contrast imaging is a promising modality increasing the soft tissue contrast in medical imaging. In this work, the signature of lung tissue in X-ray grating-based physe-contrast imaging is investigated. Methods: We used a Talbot-Lau interferometer for our investigations of two C57BL/6 mice. Both underwent projection imaging and computed tomography. Results: The results show that the three images obtained by X-ray phase-contrast imaging show complementary anatomical structures. Especially the dark field image allows a more-exact determination of the position of the lung in the chest cavity. Conclusion: Due to its sensitivity to granular structures, the dark field image may be used for the diagnosis of lung diseases in earlier stages or without a CT scan. Furthermore, X-ray phase-contrast imaging may also have great potential in the application of animal laboratory sciences to reduce the number of required animals used in long-term translational, toxicity, and regenerative medicine studies.