Refraction-enhanced tomosynthesis of a finger joint by X-ray dark-field imaging

A finger joint tomogram based on X-ray dark-field imaging (XDFI) was demonstrated using the simplest shift-and-add tomosynthesis algorithm. Raw XDFI image data for tomosynthesis were acquired in a total of 11 views through 10 degrees, in increments of 1 degrees, by rotating the object and detector synchronously. Incident X-ray energy was monochromatic 36.0keV, derived from synchrotron radiation. The total dosage in acquiring 11 views for raw image data was equivalent to that of one XDFI image. A clear tomogram was obtained of a finger joint (including articular cartilage, which is invisible by conventional tomosynthesis) without an increase in X-ray dosage.