X-ray imaging is a corner stone of breast cancer diagnosis. By exploiting the phase shift of X-rays rather than their attenuation, phase-contrast tomography has the potential to dramatically increase the visibility of small and low contrast features, thus leading to better diagnosis. This thesis presents research on the first synchrotron-based project developing a clinical phase-contrast breast computed tomography (CT) setup at Elettra, the Italian Syncrotron Radiation Facility. This book includes a comprehensive theoretical background on propagation-based phase-contrast imaging, exploring and extending the most recent image formation models. Along with theory, many practical implementation and optimization issues, ranging from detector-specific processing to setup geometry, are tackled on the basis of a large number of experimental evidences. Most of the modelling results and data analysis have general validity, being a valuable framework for optimization of phase-contrast setups. Results obtained at synchrotron are also compared with ""real world"" laboratory sources: both a first-of-its-kind comparison with one of the few hospital breast CT systems and a state-of-the-art implementation of monochromatic phase-contrast micro-tomography with a conventional rotating anode source are presented. On a more general level, this work sheds a light on the importance of synchrotron-based clinical programs, which are key to trigger the long-anticipated transition of phase-contrast imaging from synchrotrons to hospitals.
By:
Luca Brombal Imprint: Springer Nature Switzerland AG Country of Publication: Switzerland Edition: 2020 ed. Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 155mm,
Weight: 454g ISBN:9783030604325 ISBN 10: 3030604322 Series:Springer Theses Pages: 140 Publication Date:17 November 2020 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction.- Physics of Propagation-based X-ray Tomography.- Propagation-based Breast CT and SYRMA-3D Project.- Detector and Pre-processing.- Experimental Optimization of Propagation-based BCT.- Three-Dimensional Imaging: A Clinically Oriented Focus.- Do We Need Clinical Applications in Synchrotrons?.- Conclusions.