Bronnikov-aided correction for x-ray computed tomography

• Published in: Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision Vol. 26; no. 4; p. 890
• Main Authors: De Witte, Yoni, Boone, Matthieu, Vlassenbroeck, Jelle, Dierick, Manuel, Van Hoorebeke, Luc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.04.2009
• ISSN: 1084-7529
• DOI: 10.1364/josaa.26.000890

When a very-low-absorbing sample is scanned at an x-ray computed tomography setup with a microfocus x-ray tube and a high-resolution detector, the obtained projection images contain not only absorption contrast but also phase contrast. While images without a phase signal can be reconstructed very well, such mixed phase and absorption images give rise to severe artifacts in the reconstructed slices. A method is described that applies a correction to these mixed projections to remove the phase signal. These corrected images can then be processed using a standard filtered backprojection algorithm to obtain reconstructions with only few or no phase artifacts. This new method, which we call the Bronnikov-aided correction (BAC), can be used in a broad variety of applications and without much additional effort. It is tested on a biological and a pharmaceutical sample, and results are evaluated and discussed by comparing them with those of conventional reconstruction methods.