Laboratory-based X-ray phase-contrast imaging technique for material and medical science applications.

In-line X-ray phase-contrast imaging technique is an emerging method for the study of materials such as carbon fibers, carbon composite materials, polymers, etc. Similarly this technique is also well suited for the imaging of soft materials such as tissues, distinguishing between tumor and normal tissue. These represent the class of materials for which X-ray attenuation cross-section is very small. Thus this method promises a far better contrast for low X-ray absorbing substances than the conventional radiography method. We have set up an experimental facility using a combination of X-ray CCD detector and a microfocus X-ray source. This facility is dedicated to micro-imaging experiments such as microtomography and high-resolution phase-contrast experiments. In this paper, the results of X-ray phase-contrast imaging experiments are described.