Source effects in analyzer-based X-ray phase contrast imaging with conventional sources.

Several recent papers have shown the implementation of analyzer based X-ray phase contrast imaging (ABI) with conventional X-ray sources. The high flux is always a requirement to make the technique useful for bio-medical applications. Here, we present and discuss three important parameters, which need to be taken into account, when searching for the high flux ABI: anisotropic magnification, double image, and source size spread due to intrinsic dispersive diffraction by asymmetrically cut crystals. These parameters, if not well optimized, may cause important features in the acquired images which can mislead the interpretation. A few ways to minimize these effects are implemented and discussed, including some experimental results. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4767243]