On the possibility of utilizing scattering-based contrast agents in combination with diffraction-enhanced imaging

Fulvia Arfelli; Luigi Rigon; Ralf-Hendrik Menk; Hans-Juergen Besch

doi:10.1117/12.480162

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5 June 2003 On the possibility of utilizing scattering-based contrast agents in combination with diffraction-enhanced imaging

Fulvia Arfelli, Luigi Rigon, Ralf-Hendrik Menk, Hans-Juergen Besch

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Proceedings Volume 5030, Medical Imaging 2003: Physics of Medical Imaging; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.480162
Event: Medical Imaging 2003, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Preliminary experiments have been carried out in order to evaluate the potential of the Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI) technique in combination with contrast agents not based on X-ray absorption properties, but that provide strong scattering signals. The contrast agents tested in this study are microbubble echo-enhancing agents, usually used in ultrasound examinations, which are completely invisible with conventional X-ray absorption techniques. A DEI set-up has been implemented at the Medical Beamline at the synchrotron radiation facility ELETTRA (Trieste, Italy). The analyzer crystal is a single flat silicon crystal utilized in the [111] reflection. By shifting the analyzer crystal to different positions of the rocking curve it is possible to detect the scattered photons; in particular, if the sample consists of a large number of particles with size smaller than the pixel size of the detector, an overall effect can be visualized. Phantoms containing ultrasound contrast agents have been built and imaged at different angular positions of the analyzer crystal at 17 keV and 25 keV. For all the phantoms a much stronger contrast has been measured in comparison to the contrast evaluated from the images produced with normal absorption methods.

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Fulvia Arfelli, Luigi Rigon, Ralf-Hendrik Menk, and Hans-Juergen Besch "On the possibility of utilizing scattering-based contrast agents in combination with diffraction-enhanced imaging", Proc. SPIE 5030, Medical Imaging 2003: Physics of Medical Imaging, (5 June 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.480162

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