Comparative analysis of phase extraction methods based on phase-stepping and shifting curve in grating interferometry

Two phase extraction methods which are based separately on phase-stepping and shifting curve are mainly used in phase-sensitive imaging in gating interferometry to determine the x-ray phase shift induced by an object in the beam. In this paper, the authors perform a full comparative analysis and present the main virtues and limitations of these two methods according to the theoretical analysis of the grating interferometry.

Instantaneous phase-stepping interferometry based on a pixelated micro-polarizer array

In this paper, we propose an instantaneous phase-stepping method for determining phase distribution of interference fringes utilizing a camera that is equipped with a micro-polarizer array on the sensor plane. An optical setup of polarization interferometry using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with two polarizers is constructed. Light emerging from the interferometer is recorded using a camera that has a micro-polarizer array. This micro-polarizer array has four different optical axes. That is, an image obtained by the camera contains four types of information corresponding to four different optical axes of the polarizer. The four images separated from the image recorded by the camera are reconstructed using gray level interpolation. Subsequently, the distributions of the Stokes parameters that represent the state of polarization are calculated from the four images. The phase distribution of the interference fringe pattern produced by the Mach-Zehnder interferometer is then obtained from these Stokes parameters, The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by measuring a static carrier pattern and time-variant fringe patterns. It is emphasized that this method is applicable to time-variant phenomena because multiple exposures are unnecessary for sufficient data acquisition in the completion of the phase analysis.

Signal-to-noise ratio comparison of angular signal radiography and phase stepping method

Grating-based x-ray phase contrast imaging has the potential to be applied in future medical applications as it is compatible with both laboratory and synchrotron source. However, information retrieval methods are important because acquisition speed, scanning mode, image quality, and radiation dose depend on them. Phase-stepping （PS） is a widely used method to retrieve information, while angular signal radiography （ASR） is a newly established method. In this manuscript, signal-to-noise ratios （SNRs） of ASR are compared with that of PS. Numerical experiments are performed to validate theoretical results. SNRs comparison shows that for refraction and scattering images ASR has higher SNR than PS method, while for absorption image both methods have same SNR. Therefore, our conclusions would have guideline in future preclinical and clinical applications.