A coded-aperture technique allowing x-ray phase contrast imaging with conventional sources

Phase contrast imaging (PCI) solves the basic limitation of x-ray imaging, i.e., poor image contrast resulting from small absorption differences. Up to now, it has been mostly limited to synchrotron radiation facilities, due to the stringent requirements on the x-ray source and detectors, and only one technique was shown to provide PCI images with conventional sources but with limits in practical implementation. The authors propose a different approach, based on coded apertures, which provides high PCI signals with conventional sources and detectors and imposes practically no applicability limits. They expect this method to cast the basis of a widespread diffusion of PCI. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.