Next Generation X-Ray Imaging

Our vision is to marry UCL's world-class research and expertise on phase-based XRI (see here), inverse problems and nanofabrication with NXTS's innovation on scatter analysis, image reconstruction and colour x-ray imaging in order to achieve the next step change in XRI technology, with the UK industrial and academic communities firmly at the centre. This will deliver transformative solutions that are practicable in an industrial context and beneficial to a wide user base, while also enabling new science. Our ambition is to replace conventional attenuation based XRI with energy-resolved, phase-based technology combined with scatter retrieval and novel algorithms in most application areas.

Read more about our vision

Team

To read more about our team, click here.


People

Prof Sandro Olivo, Academic PI
Prof David Bate, Industrial PI
Prof Simon Arridge, co-I
Prof Ioannis Papakonstantinou, co-I
Dr Charlotte Hagen, co-I
Dr Marco Endrizzi, co-I
Dr Peter Munro, co-I
Dr Daniel Briglin, NXTS researcher
Dr Wilf Shorrock, NXTS researcher
Dr Ian Buchanan, PDRA
Dr Grammatiki Lioliou, PDRA
Dr Martyna Michalska, PDRA
Dr Nargiza Djurabekova, PDRA
Ms Amy Ha, PhD student
Mr Joel Enwald, PhD student
Mr Alessandro Rossi, PhD student
Mr Carlo Peiffer, PhD student
Mr Carlos Navarrete Leon, PhD student

Associated UCL Researchers

Dr Silvia Cipiccia, lecturer
Dr Alberto Astolfo, systems engineer 
Ms Sumera Rehman, PhD student
Mr Oriol Roche I Morgó, PhD student
Mr Adam Doherty, PhD student
Ms Rimcy Palakkappilly Alikunju, PhD student
Mr Glafkos Havariyoun, PhD student

Developed Imaging Systems

At Nikon

“NGI” high-energy (up to 160 kVp) x-ray phase contrast system capable of scanning large (~20 x 50 cm2) objects while simultaneously providing attenuation, differential phase and dark field images. It is currently being adapted for CT imaging, and used to test various energy-resolved detector solutions.

At Nikon

“HICF” system – it performs phase CT of large (up to 8 cm diameter) samples in short exposure times (~10’), and was tested “in the field” for intra-operative imaging. Currently being upgraded to reach higher resolutions (10 mm), include cycloidal tomography, and produce dark-field CTs as well.

At UCL

The UCL system upon which the Nikon HICF prototype is based. Source, pre-sample and post sample masks and detector are visible from left to right. The system is flexible and can accommodate different mask types, acquisition geometries, etc.

At UCL

UCL flexible system allowing fast re-configuration to test new source/detector/mask solutions

At UCL

UCL low-energy (8 keV) microscopy system – the beam is propagated from the source at the far end through a vacuum pipe to reduce air attenuation to a high-resolution detector at the other end (not visible in the photo).

Early Breakthroughs

Enhanced material discrimination with dark field imaging combined with deep learning

More infoOriginal paper

Cycloidal Computed Tomography

More infoOriginal paper

Dynamic, Multi-modal Imaging of Additive Manufacturing

More infoOriginal paper

Protocols to Support the Development of Regenerative Medicine

More infoOriginal paper

Digital Histology of Breast Tumours

More infoOriginal paper

Integrating the detector mask into the detector itself

More infoOriginal paper

Low-energy x-ray microscopy with user-defined resolution

More infoOriginal paper

Robust Phase Integration

More infoOriginal paper

High-resolution Single-shot Multimodal X-ray Imaging

More infoOriginal paper

Publications

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  1. Hagen CK, Vittoria FA, Roche ì Morgo O, Endrizzi M and Olivo A, “Cycloidal Computed Tomography”, Phys. Rev. Appl. 14 (2020) 014069
  2. Hagen CK, Roche ì Morgo O, and Olivo A, “Predicting the noise in hybrid (phase and attenuation) x-ray images acquired with the edge illumination technique”, Med. Phys. 47 (2020) 4439-49
  3. Doherty A, Massimi L, Olivo A and Endrizzi M, “Optimal and Automated Mask Alignment for use in Edge Illumination X-Ray Differential-Phase and Dark-Field Imaging Techniques”, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A 984 (2020) 164602
  4. Buchanan I, Kallon G, Beckenbach T, Schulz J, Endrizzi M and Olivo A, “Effective modelling of high-energy laboratory-based x-ray phase contrast imaging utilising absorption masks or gratings”, J. Appl. Phys. 128 (2020) 214503
  5. Dreier ES, Bergamaschi A, Kallon GK, Brönniman R, Olsen UL, Olivo A and Endrizzi M “Tracking based, high-resolution single-shot multimodal x-ray imaging in the laboratory enabled by the sub-pixel resolution capabilities of the MÖNCH detector”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 117 (2020) 264101
  6. Massimi L, Buchanan I, Astolfo A, Endrizzi M and Olivo A, “A fast, non-iterative algorithm for quantitative integration of x-ray differential phase-contrast images”, Opt. Exp. 28 (2020) 39677-87
  7. Massimi L, Savvidis S, Endrizzi M and Olivo A “Improved visualisation of x-ray phase contrast volumetric data through artifact-free integrated differential images”, Phys. Med. 84 (2021) 80-4
  8. Roche I Morgo O, Massimi L, Suaris T, Endrizzi M, Munro PRT, Savvidis S, Havariyoun G, Hawker PMS, Astolfo A, Larkin OJ, Nelan RL, Jones JL, Pelt DM, Bate D, Olivo A and Hagen CK “Exploring the potential of cycloidal computed tomography for advancing intraoperative specimen imaging”, Proc. SPIE 11840 (2021) 118400R
  9. Olivo A on behalf of the UCL AXIm Group “Edge-illumination x-ray phase-contrast imaging”, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 363002
  10. Roche I Morgo O, Vittoria FA, Endrizzi M, Olivo A and Hagen CK “Technical note: practical implementation strategies of cycloidal computed tomography”, Med. Phys, 48 (2021) 6524-6530
  11. Massimi L, Partridge T, Astolfo A, Endrizzi M, Hagen CK, Munro PRT, Bate D and Olivo A “Optimisation of multi-point phase retrieval in edge illumination x-ray imaging”, Med. Phys, 48 (2021) 5884-5896
  12. Massimi L, Clark SJ, Marussi S, Doherty A, Schulz J, Marathe S, Rau C, Endrizzi M, Lee PD and Olivo A “Dynamic, multi-contrast x-ray imaging method applied to additive manufacturing”, Phys. Rev. Lett., 127 (2021) 215503
  13. Pelt DM, Roche I Morgo O, Maughan Jones C, Olivo A and Hagen CK, “Cycloidal CT with CNN-based sinogram completion and in-scan generation of training data”, Sci. Rep. 12 (2022) 893
  14. Massimi L, Suaris T, Hagen CK, Endrizzi M, Munro PRT, Havariyoun G, Hawker PMS, Smit B, Astolfo A, Larkin OJ, Waltham RM, Shah Z, Duffy SW, Nelan RL, Peel A, Jones JL, Haig IG, Bate D and Olivo A, “Volumetric high-resolution X-ray phase-contrast virtual histology of breast specimens with a compact laboratory system”, IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging 41 (2022) 1188-95 
  15. Savvidis S, Gerli MFM, Pellegrini M, Massimi L, Hagen CK, Endrizzi M, Atzeni A, Ogunbiyi OK, Turmaine M, Smith ES, Fagiani C, Selmin G, Urbani L, Durkin N, Shibuya S, De Coppi P and Olivo A “Monitoring tissue engineered constructs and protocols with laboratory-based x-ray phase contrast tomography”, Acta Biomater. 141 (2022) 290-9
  16. Astolfo A, Buchanan I, Partridge T, Kallon GK, Hagen CK, Munro PRT, Endrizzi M, Bate D and Olivo A “The effect of a variable focal spot size on the contrast channels retrieved in edge-illumination x-ray phase contrast imaging”, Sci. Rep. 12 (2022) 3354
  17. Shoukroun D, Massimi L, Endrizzi M, Bate D, Fromme P and Olivo A “Edge illumination x-ray phase contrast imaging for impact damage detection in CFRP”, Mater. Today Commun. 31 (2022) 103279
  18. Buchanan I, Astolfo A, Endrizzi M, Bate D and Olivo A “Reliable material characterisation at low x-ray energy through the phase-attenuation duality”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 120 (2022) 124102 
  19. Massimi L, Kallon GK, Buchanan I, Endrizzi M, Dobrosz P, Brooks R, Brau D, Bullard E and Olivo A, “Replacing the detector mask with a structured scintillator in edge-illumination x-ray phase contrast imaging”, J. Appl. Phys. 131 (2022) 204501
  20. Shoukroun D, Olivo A and Fromme P “Edge illumination x-ray phase contrast imaging and ultrasonic attenuation for porosity quantification in composite structures”, Proceedings of the ASME 2021 48th Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE 2021), V001T10A001, pp 1-6
  21. Shoukroun D, Doherty A, Endrizzi M, Bate D, Fromme P and Olivo A, “Post-acquisition mask misalignment correction for edge illumination x-ray phase contrast imaging”, Rev. Sci Instrum. 93 (2022) 053706 
  22. Esposito M, Massimi L, Buchanan I, Ferrara JD, Endrizzi M and Olivo A “Test and optimisation of a multi-modal phase-based x-ray microscope for soft tissue imaging”, Proc. SPIE 12031 (2022) 1203102 
  23. Esposito M, Massimi L, Buchanan I, Ferrara JD, Endrizzi M and Olivo A, “A laboratory-based, low-energy, multi-modal x-ray microscope with user-defined resolution”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 120 (2022) 234101 
  24. Massimi L, Clark SJ, Marussi S, Doherty A, Shah SM, Schulz J, Marathe S, Rau C, Endrizzi M, Lee PD and Olivo A “Time resolved in-situ multi-contrast X-ray imaging of melting in metals”, Sci. Rep. 12 (2022) 12136
  25. Partridge T, Astolfo A, Shankar SS, Vittoria FA, Endrizzi M, Arridge S, Riley-Smith T, Haig IG, Bate D and Olivo A “Enhanced detection of threat materials by dark-field x-ray imaging combined with deep neural networks”, Nat. Commun. 13 (2022) 4651 

Conference Presentations and Seminars

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  • Edge Illumination phase contrast for synchrotron and laboratory-based X-ray imaging techniques, CABI Seminar Series, UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, London, UK, Feb 28 2020 (Endrizzi, invited seminar)
  • Laboratory-based phase contrast tomography, CCPi Tomographic Imaging “Lunch & Learn” Seminar Series, held remotely, May 12 2020 (Olivo, invited seminar)
  • Three different ways of implementing cycloidal computed tompography: a discussion of pros and cons, 6th International Conference on Image Formation in X-Ray Computed Tomography, held remotely, Aug 3-7 2020 (Roche i Morgó)
  • Opportunities for x-ray phase contrast imaging with laser-driven sources, Community Meeting on Wakefield Acceleration, held remotely, Sept 8 2020 (Olivo, invited seminar)
  • X-ray phase contrast techniques for synchrotron and laboratory-based imaging, Doctoral Schools Lecture, Centre for X-ray Tomography, Department Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, Belgium, held remotely, Nov 23 2020 (Endrizzi, invited seminar)
  • Composite porosity characterisation using x-ray edge illumination imaging and ultrasonic techniques, Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems XV, held remotely, Mar 22-25 2021 (Shoukroun)
  • Giving x-rays soft tissue sensitivity through phase contrast imaging, held remotely, UCL Bioimaging Interest Group Seminar Series, May 14 2021 (Olivo, invited seminar)
  • X-ray edge illumination using direct detection technology, 22nd International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors (iWoRid 2021), held remotely, Jun 28-Jul 1 2021 (Endrizzi, invited keynote)
  • X-ray ptychography: from the synchrotron to your laboratory, 22nd International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors (iWoRid 2021), held remotely, Jun 28-Jul 1 2021 (Cipiccia, invited keynote)
  • The Use of Edge Illumination Xray Phase Contrast Imaging and Ultrasonic Attenuation for Porosity Detection in Composite Structures, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, held remotely, Jul 28-30 2021 (Shoukroun)
  • Exploring the potential of cycloidal computed tomography for advancing intraoperative specimen imaging, SPIE Optics and Photonics, held remotely, 1-5 Aug 2021 (Roche i Morgó)
  • Edge-illumination x-ray phase contrast CT for intra-operative imaging and digital histology, EMIM 2021 pre-symposium “X-ray based imaging on different scales for biomedical applications”, Goettingen, Germany, Aug 23 2021 (Olivo, invited talk)
  • Biomedical applications of compact laboratory x-ray phase contrast CT systems based on edge-illumination, EMIM 2021, Goettingen, Germany, Aug 24 2021 (Olivo, invited keynote)
  • X-Ray Phase-contrast imaging: edge illumination basic principles and their application, Tomography for Scientific Advancement (ToScA) 2021, held remotely, Sept 1-3 2021 (Endrizzi, invited keynote)
  • Laboratory-based x-ray phase contrast imaging for NDT and industrial testing, Image-Based Simulation for Industry 2021 (iBSim-4i), London, UK Oct 18-21 2021 (Olivo) 
  • Enhanced detection of threat materials through edge-illumination based x-ray dark field imaging combined with machine learning, Scientific Workshop International Seminar Series (SWISS), held remotely, Nov 4 2021 (Olivo, invited seminar)
  • Poisson noise analysis of the Pixirad-2/PIXIE-III photon counting detector, 22nd International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors (iWoRid 2021), held remotely, Jun 28-Jul 1 2021 (Navarrete Leon) 
  • Characterisation of different Gaussian fitting and phase contrast retrieval methods, Workshop on Advanced Image Reconstruction Methods, London, UK, Sept 12-13 2021 (Djurabekova)
  • Exploiting the phase: a step-change in x-ray imaging, STEM for Britain, London, UK, May 7 2022 (Roche i Morgó) 
  • Historical perspective on laboratory-based x-ray phase contrast imaging techniques, National Research Facility on X-Ray CT (NXCT) Workshop series, held remotely (Zoom), May 16 2022 (Olivo, invited lecture)
  • Projection imaging and phase retrieval, National Research Facility on X-Ray CT (NXCT) Workshop series, held remotely (Zoom), May 16 2022 (Munro, invited lecture) 
  • X-Ray phase contrast computed tomography, National Research Facility on X-Ray CT (NXCT) Workshop series, held remotely (Zoom), May 16 2022 (Hagen, invited lecture) 
  • Outlook – advanced methods, National Research Facility on X-Ray CT (NXCT) Workshop series, held remotely (Zoom), May 16 2022 (Cipiccia, invited lecture)
  • X-Ray dark-field tomography for medical and industrial applications, 6th Dimensional X-ray Computed Tomography Conference, Manchester, UK, June 13-16 2022 (Doherty) 
  • A lab-based 2D phase-sensitive beam-tracking x-ray micro computed tomography system, 15th International Conference on X-ray Microscopy, held online, June 19-24 2022 (Navarrete Leon) 
  • High resolution imaging of biomaterials for tissue engineering, 15th International Conference on X-ray Microscopy, held online, June 19-24 2022 (Rehman) 
  • Enhanced threat detection in a single scan using phase-based X-ray imaging methods and deep neural networks, 4th CED (Concealed Explosive Detection) Workshop, Dublin, Ireland, Jun 20-24 2022 (Olivo) 
  • Prospective applications of x-ray phase contrast imaging to food inspection, Metrix Ltd, Loughborough, UK, Jul 26 2022 (Olivo, invited seminar) 
  • Angular sensitivity of 2D phase-sensitive beam-tracking x-ray micro computed tomography systems, 23rd International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors (iWoRiD2022), Riva del Garda, Italy, June 26-30 2022 (Endrizzi) 
  • Fly scan solutions for multi-modal x-ray computed tomography, 5th International Conference on Tomography of Materials and Structures (ICTMS), Grenoble, France Jun 27-Jul 1 2022 (Hagen) 
  • Exploring the merits of cycloidal-spiral scanning in micro-CT techniques with a structured x-ray beam, 5th International Conference on Tomography of Materials and Structures (ICTMS), Grenoble, France Jun 27-Jul 1 2022 (Lioliou) 
  • A sample position tracking method for improving the reconstruction quality in cycloidal computed tomography, 5th International Conference on Tomography of Materials and Structures (ICTMS), Grenoble, France Jun 27-Jul 1 2022 (Roche i Morgó) 
  • Robust implementations of x-ray phase contrast imaging with conventional sources for translation into medical, industrial and security applications, Boeing Distinguished Research and Scholar Seminar (B-DRASS) series, held remotely (Webex), Aug 2 2022 (Olivo, invited seminar) 
  • Intra-operative assessment of cancer with x-ray phase contrast computed tomography, International Symposium on Medical Applications of X-Ray, Phase-Contrast & Photon-Counting (IMXP 2022), Aug 4-5 2022, Munich, Germany (Navarrete Leon) 
  • X-ray dark-field tomography using edge-illumination, SPIE Optics and Photonics 2022, S Diego, California (USA), Aug 21-25 2022 (Doherty) 
  • Innovative sampling strategies for x-ray micro-computed tomography with an intensity modulated beam, Tomography for scientific Advancement (ToScA) 2022, London, UK, Sept 7-9 2022 (Roche i Morgó) 
  • High resolution imaging of biomaterials for tissue engineering, Tomography for scientific Advancement (ToScA) 2022, London, UK, Sept 7-9 2022 (Cipiccia)
  • Volumetric imaging of biological specimens with a 2D phase-sensitive X-ray micro-computed tomography system, BioMedEng22, London, UK Sept 8-9 2022 (Navarrete Leon) 


AXIM
EPCRC
UCL
Nikon