In X-ray imaging and more specifically in high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT), image contrast is mainly created by the attenuation of X-rays. Recently, the possibilities of X-ray phase contrast, where the effects of the refractive index of the object are being used, have gained significant importance. Currently, the two most common techniques are in-line phase contrast, using the propagation of the beam to visualize the phase information, and Talbot interferometry, using a grating interferometer to retrieve both phase and attenuation information.
At the Ghent University Center for X-ray Tomography (UGCT), in-line phase contrast is commonly applied, and the technique has been extensively investigated. As such, UGCT has become one of the expert laboratory-based facilities in in-line phase contrast. Talbot interferometry on the other hand is currently not available at UGCT. This project aims at introducing this technique at UGCT, allowing for a whole new range of applications, and comparing grating-based phase contrast with in-line phase contrast.
Due to the fundamentally different imaging method, the experimental conditions for both
techniques differ largely, hence a comparison is all but straight-forward. Several attempts to compare both techniques have been undertaken, mainly at synchrotron facilities, yet a comparison taking these different boundary conditions at lab-based setups into account has to our knowledge up to now not been performed.