X-ray screening can be used to aid in the detection of a variety of threats, including items such as explosives and narcotics. Conventional x-ray imaging provides limited means of distinguishing between different materials. Gratings-based phase contrast x-ray imaging provides images reflecting three distinct materials signatures: absorption, similar to conventional x-ray imaging; phase contrast, proportional to electron density variations; and dark field, which can be related to material texture. These additional signatures may enhance the ability to distinguish materials in x-ray images, leading to detection improvements. Here we discuss considerations for system design and improved detection: approach to measurements at relevant energies for security screening, signature studies of explosives and opioids as well as common benign materials, and development of a prototype screening system.
Gratings-based phase contrast imaging provides additional materials signatures that can enhance detection for security screening. However, screening of larger objects requires more penetrating energies, which presents a challenge to gratings-based systems: more penetrating x-rays are more difficult to pattern, while the cross sections for small angle scattering are reduced. We present a study of phase contrast x-ray imaging at endpoint energies above 160 kV, discussing pattern visibility, spectral corrections, and detection of material microstructure. We then discuss considerations for potential implementation.
Gratings-based phase contrast x-ray imaging offers enhanced material information in an x-ray imaging measurement, a key consideration for improving performance in explosives detection. Application of phase contrast imaging to explosives detection requires addressing several key technical issues: identifying a patterning element (grating) that offers an appropriate tradeoff between sensitivity and robust operation at high energies, developing techniques that allow for quantitative interpretation of new signatures under a broad range of attenuation conditions, and designing a system that allows for rapid measurement while providing sufficient signal-to-noise. We present results illustrating the value of phase contrast x-ray signatures for explosives detection, and demonstrate the ability to obtain quantitative metrics in the presence of intervening materials. Finally, we demonstrate preliminary results from a gratings-based phase contrast system in a scanning configuration.
Gratings-based phase contrast X-ray imaging provides additional materials signatures in textured media based on the deflection of the X-ray beam. Using this technique with a hard (~160 kVp) X-ray spectrum has shown potential for improved materials discrimination in applications such as explosives detection. Typical phase contrast measurements rely on relatively broad bremsstrahlung spectra, resulting in measurement responses averaged across wide energy ranges. Here, we present results for gratings-based phase contrast measurements using a spectroscopic imaging detector. This allows for direct observation of phase-contrast material cross sections as a function of energy, without the need for a mono-energetic X-ray source. Further, the measurements provide a direct understanding of spectral variations and a technical basis for application of hard X-ray gratings-based phase contrast measurements in the presence of attenuating materials.
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