Micro-CT with adjustable resolution

The use of a pre-sample mask in the edge-illumination and beam-tracking phase-based imaging methods decouples image resolution from the parameters that traditionally determine it, namely size of the x-ray focal spot and point spread function of the used detector. Instead, the resolution is determined by the size of the apertures in the pre-sample mask. By creating a mask with various sections featuring series of apertures with the same period but different apertures, the (in slice) resolution can be changed (including dynamically) by moving different sections in and out of the beam.

From left to right: details of a mouse embryo (top row: heart, bottom row: spine) imaged with 20, 10 and 5 micron apertures, respectively: the progressive increase in resolution is apparent, while phase effects guarantee the effective visualization of the soft tissue details.