IP Library Granted Patent US 9,329,141
Granted Patent B2
US 9,329,141 · App. 14/176,655 · Granted May 3, 2016

Large field of view grating interferometers for X-ray phase contrast imaging and CT at high energy

Inventors: Dan Stutman (Cockeysville, MD); Michael Finkenthal (Columbia, MD)
Assignee: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
G01N23/046G01N23/207G01N23/20075G01N2223/419
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,329,141
App. No.
14/176,655
Granted
May 3, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

A device and method of the present disclosure provides large field-of-view Talbot-Lau phase contrast CT systems up to very high X-ray energy. The device includes microperiodic gratings tilted at glancing incidence and tiled on a single substrate to provide the large field-of-view phase contrast CT system. The present disclosure is a simple, economical, and accurate method for combining multiple GAIs into a larger FOV system, capable of performing phase-contrast tomography (PC-CT) on large objects. The device and method can be applied to medical X-ray imaging, industrial non-destructive testing, and security screening.

Claims (7)

1. An interferometer device operable to condition incident X-rays in a high energy X-ray system comprising:

a substrate;

multiple tiled micro-periodic gratings arranged in a fan shape on the substrate, wherein the gratings comprise absorbing bars and the absorbing bars are tilted at a glancing angle along the direction of the incident X-rays, and wherein the absorbing bars are aligned parallel with the incident X-rays, over a width equal or less than their beam collimation or vignetting width.

2. The interferometer device of claim 1 , wherein the device is configured for use with a large field-of-view (FOV) interferometric system.

3. The interferometer device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a single substrate.

4. The interferometer of claim 1 , wherein the gratings are tiled in a fan shape in the horizontal direction and stacked in a vertical direction to make a large horizontal and vertical field-of-view (FOV) differential phase-contrast tomography (DPC-CT) system.

5. The interferometer of claim 1 , wherein the absorbing bars of the gratings are inclined at an angle of approximately 5° to approximately 30° along a propagation direction of the incident X-rays, and fanned on their substrate over an angle between approximately 5° and 15°, to make a large FOV X-ray interferometer for 50-150 kVp energy.

Assignments (3)
CONFIRMATORY LICENSE Recorded Dec 14, 2017
From: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
To: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH), U.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (DHHS), U.S. GOVERNMENT
Reel/Frame 044879/0171 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNEE'S ADDRESS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 032184 FRAME 0622. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE CORRECT ADDRESS FOR ASSIGNEE IS 3400 N. CHARLES STREET, BALTIMORE, MD 21218. Recorded May 2, 2014
From: STUTMAN, DAN; FINKENTHAL, MICHAEL
To: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Reel/Frame 032815/0272 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 10, 2014
From: STUTMAN, DAN; FINKENTHAL, MICHAEL
To: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Reel/Frame 032184/0622 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 61763683 · Feb 12, 2013
Related Publication 20140226782A1 · Aug 14, 2014