Anastasio The proposal seeks to develop several new approaches to the processing and reconstruction of phase-contrast X-ray tomography using coherent X-ray sources. It looks forward to the future availability of different sorts of coherent X-ray detection schemes, including multi-spectral single-detector configurations, cone-beam spherical-wave sources, and truncated geometries. Simulation methods and some verification using a synchrotron beamline are also included.
. The developed imaging methods employed novel scanning protocols that have not yet been considered, but will have important advantages for a wide-range of bioimaging applications. Two highly significant bioimaging applications were addressed explicitly: the non-invasive determination of the microvascular structure of tissue and the non-invasive characterization of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. The five specific research tasks that were accomplished were: (1) To develop multi-spectral phase-contrast reconstruction methods, (2) To develop phase-contrast reconstruction methods for non-conventional imaging geometries, (3) To develop local X-ray phase-contrast reconstruction algorithms, (4) To quantitatively evaluate the developed reconstruction methods, and (5) To experimentally investigate tissue microvascular and atherosclerotic plaque imaging. The project also served to significantly enhance biomedical imaging education within Biomedical Engineering (BME). Two sub-themes of this work can be identified as (1) exposure of undergraduate students to the exciting field of biomedical imaging early in their education and, moreover, introduction of high school students to concepts of imaging, and (2) development and implementation of an imaging curriculum that spans the four years of the BME degree program. There are several broad impacts of advancing X-ray phase-contrast tomography that will yield important benefits to both biomedical science and society. X-ray phase-contrast tomog- raphy may represent a powerful microscopy tool for in vivo characterization of angiogenesis and microvascular micro-architecture in biological systems with micron-level resolution. This task is of tremendous value in a wide range of biological fields such as tissue engineering, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and ischemic heart disease research. The development of phase-contrast tomography may also yield a clinical medical imaging modality that can characterize both the morphology and microstructure of atherosclerotic plaques in humans. This would have a profound impact on the detection and management of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States.
