Initial studies of synchrotron radiation phase-contrast imaging in the field of medicine

Recently, research on using X-ray phase information in medicine has been growing remarkably fast. Phase-contrast imaging with synchrotron radiation can reveal inner soft tissues such as tendons, cartilage, ligaments, adipose tissue, vessels and nerves without a contrast agent. We have visualized the liver, bile duct, lung, kidney, stomach and intestine, heart, blood vessel, bone and arthrosis, and tumor tissues using "in-line" phase contrast imaging and diffraction-enhanced imaging. It is seen that the synchrotron radiation graphs show much higher resolution. This method is especially suitable for studying soft tissue structure and blood vessels.