Computed tomography for light materials using a monochromatic X-ray beam produced by parametric X-ray radiation

Computed tomography (CT) for light materials such as soft biological tissues was performed using a monochromatic X-ray beam provided by a parametric X-ray radiation (PXR) source at the Laboratory for Electron Beam Research and Application (LEBRA) of Nihon University. Using a high-efficiency flat panel detector (FPD), each projection image for CT was taken with exposure times of 5 or 10 s, and 60-360 projection images in each run were obtained with total measurement time of 5 min to 1 h. CT images were obtained from the projection images using the conventional calculation method. The typical tomograms obtained had sharp outlines, which are likely attributable to the propagation-based phase contrast.