Optical design of a novel near-infrared phase contrast imaging(NI-PCI)diagnostic on the HL-2A tokamak

The optical design of near-infrared phase contrast imaging(NI-PCI)diagnosis on HL-2A is introduced in this paper.This scheme benefits from the great progress of near-infrared laser technology and is a broadening of traditional phase contrast technology.This diagnostic can work as a keen tool to measure plasma wavenumber spectra by inferring string-integrated plasma density fluctuations.Design of both the front optical path which is the path before the laser transmitting into the tokamak plasma and the rear optics which is the path after the laser passing through the plasma is detailed.The 1550 nm laser is chosen as the probe beam and highprecision optical components are designed to fit the laser beam,in which a phase plate with a 194-nm-deep silver groove is the key.Compared with the conventional 10.6μm laser-based PCI system on HL-2A,NI-PCI significantly overcomes the unwanted phase scintillation effect and promotes the measurement capability of high-wavenumber turbulence with an increased maximal measurable wavenumber from 15 cm^(-1)to 32.6 cm^(-1).

Binary Phase Shaping and SHG Contrast Ratios

Finding binary sequences with Large SHG ratios is very important in the field of ultrafast science, biomedical optics, high-resolution microscopy and label-free imaging. In this paper, we have demonstrated the relation between the SHG contrast ratio and the traditional Merit Factor values. And in the light from known results in Merit Factor Problems, we have shown that Legendre Sequences or Jacobi Sequences, are still the best candidates to obtain binary sequences with large SHG contrast ratios. The authors also discussed the SHG behaviors on some sequences obtained from cyclotomic classes over the finite field GF (2l) .

A new method for information retrieval in two-dimensional grating-based X-ray phase contrast imaging

Grating-based X-ray phase contrast imaging has been demonstrated to he an extremely powerful phase-sensitive imaging technique. By using two-dimensional （2D） gratings, the observable contrast is extended to two refraction directions. Recently, we have developed a novel reverse-projection （RP） method, which is capable of retrieving the object information efficiently with one-dimensional （1D） grating-based phase contrast imaging. In this contribution, we present its extension to the 2D grating-based X-ray phase contrast imaging, named the two-dimensional reverse- projection （2D-RP） method, for information retrieval. The method takes into account the nonlinear contributions of two refraction directions and allows the retrieval of the absorption, the horizontal and the vertical refraction images. The obtained information can be used for the reconstruction of the three-dimensionak phase gradient field, and for an improved phase map retrieval and reconstruction. Numerical experiments are carried out, and the results confirm the validity of the 2D-RP method.

Cerebral blood flow volume measurements of the carotid artery and ipsilateral branches using two-dimensional phase-contrast magnetic resonance angiography

The optimal velocity encoding of phase-contrast magnetic resonance angiography （PC MRA） in measuring cerebral blood flow volume （BFV） ranges from 60 to 80 cm/s. To verify the accuracy of two-dimensional （2D） PC MRA, the present study localized the region of interest at blood vessels of the neck using PC MRA based on three-dimensional time-of-flight sequences, and the velocity encoding was set to 80 cm/s. Results of the measurements showed that the error rate was 7.0±6.0% in the estimation of BFV in the internal carotid artery, the external carotid artery and the ipsilateral common carotid artery. There was no significant difference, and a significant correlation in BFV between internal carotid artery ＋ external carotid artery and ipsilateral common carotid artery. In addition, the BFV of the common carotid artery was correlated with that of the ipsilateral internal carotid artery. The main error was attributed to the external carotid artery and its branches. Therefore, after selecting the appropriate scanning parameters and protocols, 2D PC MRA is more accurate in the determination of BFV in the carotid arteries.

Double contrast-enhanced two-dimensional and three-dimensional ultrasonography for evaluation of gastric lesions

AIM： To investigate the value of two-dimensional （2D） and three-dimensional （3D） double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography （DCUS） imaging for evaluation of gas- tric lesions. METHODS： 2D and 3D DCUS imaging with both oral and intravenous administrations of contrast agents was used to assess gastroscopiclly-confirmed gastric lesions in 46 patients with benign and malignant diseases. Initially, liquid-based ultrasound contrast agent （Xinzhang） was given orally at dose of 500-600 mL for conventional ultrasound examination of the gastric lesions, and then a microbubble-based contrast agent （SonoVue） was injected intravenously at dose of 1.2-2.4 mL in bolus fashion to assess the perfusion pattern of the lesions using contrast imaging modes. The parameters derived from time-intensity curves including the arrival time （AT）, time to peak （lq-P）, peak intensity （PI） and en- hanced intensity （EI） were measured on the 2D DCUS imaging. 3D DCUS of the lesions was acquired to dem- onstrate the value of this imaging mode. RESULTS： There were 22 cases with benign lesions including chronic gastritis （n= 5）, gastric ulcer （n = 9）, gastric polyps （n = 3）, gastric stromal tumors （n = 5）, and 24 cases with malignant lesions including gastric cancer （n = 20）, gastric cardia carcinoma （n = 3） and post-operative recurrent gastric cancer （n = 1） in the study, The oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography （CEUS） imaging of the stomach clearly demonstrated the anatomy of the stomach and morphologic features of gastric lesions, With optimal scanning window and imaging display under oral CEUS, intravenous CEUS clearly showed the perfusion of gastric lesions with various characteristic manifestations. Both 2D and 3D DCUS images clearly demonstrated normal gastric wall as a three-layer structure, from the inside out, hypere- choic mucosa, hypoechoic muscularis and hyperechoic serosa, respectively. There were statistical significant differences of AT （8.68±2.06 vs 10.43 ±2.75, P = 0.017）, PI （34.64 ± 6.63 vs 29.58 ± 8.22, P = 0.023） and EI （29.72 ± 6.69 vs 22.66 ± 7.01, P = 0.001） between malignant lesions and normal gastric wall. However, no differences of AT, PI and EI between benign lesions and normal gastric wall tissue were found. 3D DCUS could intuitively display morphological features and vascularities of the lesions with multiplanar and volume views. 3D DCUS imaging provided comprehen- sive information complementary to 2D imaging. The crater or wellhead appearances and feeding vessels as well as distorted nourishing vasculature of gastric carcinoma were better seen with 3D imaging than 2D imaging. CONCLUSION： DCUS imaging can simultaneouslydisplay the anatomic and perfusion features of gastric lesions. 3D DCUS can provide additional information to 2D DCUS for evaluation of gastric lesions.

Assessment of Myocardial Perfusion and Systolic Function in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery by Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography and Two-dimensional Strain Echocardiography

The clinically applied value of myocardial perfusion and systolic function in patients with coronary artery disease after coronary artery bypass surgery using real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography （RT-MCE） combined with two-dimensional strain echocardiography was assessed. Twenty patients underwent intravenous RT-MCE by intravenous injections of SonoVue before and after coronary artery bypass surgery. Two-dimensional images were recorded from the left ventricular four-chamber view, two-chamber view and the apical view before, and two weeks and three months after coronary artery bypass surgery, and the peak systolic longitudinal strain was measured. The results showed that myocardial perfusion was significantly increased after coronary artery bypass surgery in about 71.6% segments. In the group that myocardial perfusion was improved, the peak systolic longitu- dinal strain three months after bypass surgery was significantly higher than that before operation [（-15.78±5.91）% vs （-10.45±8.31）%, P〈0.05]. However, the parameters did not change in the group without myocardial perfusion improvement [（-10.33±6.53）% vs （-9.41±6.09）%, P〉0.05]. It was concluded that whether or not the improvement of myocardial perfusion can mirror the recovery trend of regional systolic function, two-dimensional strain echocardiography can observe dynamic change of regional systolic function. The combination of myocardial perfusion with two-dimensional strain echocardiography can more accurately assess the curative effectiveness of coronary artery bypass surgery.

USING TWO-DIMENSIONAL TIME RESOLVED LIGHT SCATTERING TO STUDY THE CURE REACTION INDUCED PHASE SEPARATION PROCESS OF EPOXY-AMINE-POLYETHERSULFONE BLEND WITH SECONDARY PHASE SEPARATION

The generalized two-dimensional correlation analysis based on time-resolved light scattering patterns （2D TRLS） has been employed to study the phase separation process of an epoxy-amine-polyethersulfone blend in which the secondary phase separation takes place. The results of the 2D TRLS provided more detailed information that was not readily observed in the 1D TRLS patterns. （i） During the first process of phase separation, the sequential order of coarsening in size of the domains among the larger and smaller ones has been reversed between the diffusion regime and the hydrodynamic regime. （ii） The change of the larger domains in size, due to the hydrodynamic flow in the late stage of the first phase separation process, keeps on taking place earlier than that of the new domains appeared in the secondary phase separation process. （iii） During the secondary phase separation process the size growth of the smaller domains takes place earlier than that of the larger ones, probably due to the assumption that the coarsening mode could decrease the interface tension more quickly.

Theory and verification of moiréfringes for x-ray three-phase grating interferometer

Dual-phase and three-phase grating x-ray interference is a promising new technique for grating-based x-ray differential phase contrast imaging.Dual-phase grating interferometers have been relatively completely studied and discussed.In this paper,the corresponding imaging fringe formula of the three-phase grating interferometer is provided.At the same time,the similarities and differences between the three-phase grating interferometer and the dual-phase grating interferometer are investigated and verified,and that the three-phase grating interferometer can produce large-period moiréfringes without using the analyzing grating is demonstrated experimentally.Finally,a simple method of designing three-phase grating and multi-grating imaging systems from geometric optics based on the thin-lens theory of gratings is presented.These theoretical formulas and experimental results provide optimization tools for designing three-phase grating interferometer systems.

An Improved Coupled Level Set and Continuous Moment-of-Fluid Method for Simulating Multiphase Flows with Phase Change

An improved algorithm for computing multiphase flows is presented in which the multimaterial Moment-of-Fluid(MOF)algorithm for multiphase flows,initially described by Li et al.(2015),is enhanced addressing existing MOF difficulties in computing solutions to problems in which surface tension forces are crucial for understanding salient flow mechanisms.The Continuous MOF(CMOF)method is motivated in this article.The CMOF reconstruction method inherently removes the"checkerboard instability"that persists when using the MOF method on surface tension driven multiphase(multimaterial)flows.The CMOF reconstruction algorithm is accelerated by coupling the CMOF method to the level set method and coupling the CMOF method to a decision tree machine learning(ML)algorithm.Multiphase flow examples are shown in the two-dimensional(2D),three-dimensional(3D)axisymmetric"RZ",and 3D coordinate systems.Examples include two material and three material multiphase flows:bubble formation,the impingement of a liquid jet on a gas bubble in a cryogenic fuel tank,freezing,and liquid lens dynamics.

Temperature-induced phase transition of two-dimensional semiconductor GaTe

GaTe is a two-dimensional Ⅲ-Ⅵ semiconductor with suitable direct bandgap of~1.65 eV and high photoresponsivity,which makes it a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications.GaTe exists in two crystalline phases:monoclinic(m-GaTe,with space group C2/m) and hexagonal(h-GaTe,with space group P63/mmc).The phase transition between the two phases was reported under temperature-varying conditions,such as annealing,laser irradiation,etc.The explicit phase transition temperature and energy barrier during the temperature-induced phase transition have not been explored.In this work,we present a comprehensive study of the phase transition process by using first-principles energetic and phonon calculations within the quasi-harmonic approximation framework.We predicted that the phase transition from h-GaTe to m-GaTe occurs at the temperature decreasing to 261 K.This is in qualitative agreement with the experimental observations.It is a two-step transition process with energy barriers 199 meV and 288 meV,respectively.The relatively high energy barriers demonstrate the irreversible nature of the phase transition.The electronic and phonon properties of the two phases were further investigated by comparison with available experimental and theoretical results.Our results provide insightful understanding on the process of temperature-induced phase transition of GaTe.

Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy with Active Phase Management

Two-dimensional elec tronic spec troscopy(2DES)is a powerful met hod to probe the coherent electron dynamics in complicated systems.Stabilizing the phase difference of the incident ultrashort pulses is the mos t challenging par t for experimen tal demonstration of 2DES.Here,we present a tuto rial review on the 2DES proto cols based on active phase managements which are originally developed for quantum optics experiments.We introduce the 2DES techniques in box and pump-probe geometries with phase stabilization realized by interferometry,and outline the fully collinear 2DES approach with the frequency tagging by acoustic optical modulators and frequency combs.The combination of active phase managements,ultrashort pulses and other spectroscopic methods may open new opportunities to tackle essential challenges related to excited states.

Effect of One/Two-dimensional Bonding Phases on Strength and Toughness of Carbon-containing Refractories

Gaseous phases of carbon-containing and metastable oxides will be resulted from the carbonization of phenolic resin binders and the reduced reactions between C and oxides at high temperatures in carbon-containing refractories. With the in-situ catalysis technique, these gaseous phases can be transformed to one-or two-dimensional bonding phases by deposition,which is favorable for the improvement on strength and toughness of carboncontaining refractories,especially low carbon refractories. The research results reveal that：（ 1） the amorphous carbon resulted from phenolic resin can be transformed to carbon nanotubes,thus,the oxidation peak temperature is raised from 506 to 664. 6 ℃;（ 2） onedimensional whiskers of MgO or Mg Al2 O4 can be in-situ formed in MgO-C refractories, and their CMOR,CCS,rupture displacement and residual CCS（ two water quenching cycles,1 100 ℃） are increased by 66%,47%,13% and 26%,respectively;（ 3） two-dimensional array structure of flake β-SiAlON can be in-situ formed in Al2 O3-C refractories,which improves the material strength by 60% and decreases the residual strength after thermal shock by only 4. 5 MPa. It is believed that the in-situ formation of one-or two-dimensional bonding phases at high temperatures can improvethe comprehensive thermal physical properties of carboncontaining refractories,and will be the developing trend of the strengthening and toughening of low carbon-containing refractories.

A new method of detecting interferogram in differential phase-contrast imaging system based on special structured x-ray scintillator screen

An x-ray scintillator screen with a special structure, functioning as detector and analyser grating, was proposed for collecting the interferogram of differential phase contrast imaging without absorption grating and difficulty of fabrication by a state of the art technique. On the basis of phase grating diffraction, a detecting model of the scintillator screen was built for analysing the phase and absorption information of objects. According to the analysis, a new method of phase retrievals based on two-images and the optimal structure of screen were presented.

Progress of plasma density fluctuation measurements with phase contrast imaging on HL-2A tokamak

A CO2 laser-based phase contrast imaging(PCI) diagnostic has been developed on HL-2A tokamak.It can detect line integrated plasma density fluctuations by measuring the phase shift of laser beam after being scattered by the bulk plasma.The diagnosed radial region ranges from ρ≡r/a =0.625 to 0.7.32-channel HgCdTe detectors with alternative-current biased amplifiers are arranged in line at the imaging plane of the optical path.This PCI is able to diagnose density fluctuations with wavenumbers ranging from 2 to 15 cm-1 and the time resolution is better than 2 μs.The first experimental data were achieved in 2018 spring campaign of HL-2A tokamak.High performance is confirmed in different discharging configurations and makes it a keen tool in broadband turbulence investigations.

Contrast enhancement of medical ultrasound imaging with reversal phase-inversion pulse technology

A new ultrasound contrast imaging technique was proposed for eliminating the harmonic components from the emission signal transmitted by the broadband ultrasonic system.Reversal phase-inversion pulse was used for the first time to separate the contrast harmonics from the harmonics in the emission signal to improve the detection of contrast micro-bubbles.Based on the nonlinear acoustic theory of finite-amplitude effects and the associated distortion of the propagating wave,the Bessel-Fubini series model was applied to describe the nonlinear propagation effects of the reversal phase-inversion pulse,and the Church's equation for zero-thickness encapsulation model was used to produce the scattering-pulse of the bubble.For harmonic imaging,the experiment was performed using a 64-element linear array,which was simulated by Field II.The results show that the harmonic components from the emission signal can be completely cancelled,and the harmonics generated by the nonlinear propagation of the wave through the tissue,can be reduced by 15-30 dB.Compared with the short pulse,the reversal phase-inversion pulse can improve the contrast and definition of the harmonic image significantly.

Real time high accuracy phase contrast imaging with parallel acquisition speckle tracking

X-ray speckle tracking based methods can provide results with best reported angular accuracy up to 2 nrad. However,duo to the multi-frame requirement for phase retrieval and the possible instability of the x-ray beam, mechanical and background vibration, the actual accuracy will inevitably be degraded by these time-dependent fluctuations. Therefore,not only spatial position, but also temporal features of the speckle patterns need to be considered in order to maintain the superiority of the speckle-based methods. In this paper, we propose a parallel acquisition method with advantages of real time and high accuracy, which has potential applicability to dynamic samples imaging as well as on-line beam monitoring.Through simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed method can reduce the phase error caused by the fluctuations to1% at most compared with current speckle tracking methods. Meanwhile, it can keep the accuracy deterioration within0.03 nrad, making the high theoretical accuracy a reality. Also, we find that waveforms of the incident beam have a little impact on the phase retrieved and will not influence the actual accuracy, which relaxes the requirements for speckle-based experiments.

Visibility in differential phase-contrast imaging with partial coherence source

This paper gives theoretical analysis of visibility of fringes, which is influenced by distances, temporal and spatial coherence of source, in hard x-ray differential phase-contrast imaging with microfocus x-ray source. According to the character of longitudinal periodicity of the interferogram, the setup is insensitive to mechanical drift and vibrations. The effect of temporal coherence of x-ray source is investigated and its related bandwidth is derived. Based on the theory of partially coherent light, it shows that the requirement for the spatial coherence of x-ray source is not strict and can be met by the general microfocus x-ray tube for x-ray differential phase-contrast imaging.

Experimental Investigation of Two-Dimensional Velocity on the 90°Double Bend Pipe Flow Using Ultrasound Technique

An experimental investigation was performed to investigate two-dimensional axial velocity field at downstream of the 90°double bend pipe with and without inlet swirling condition. The main objectives are to find separation region and observe the influence of inlet swirling flow on the velocity fluctuation using ultrasound technique. The experiments were carried out in the pipe at Reynolds number Re = 1 × 104. In case of inlet swirling flow condition, a rotary swirler was used as swirling generator, and the swirl number was setup S = 1. The ultrasonic measurements were taken at four downstream locations of the second bend pipe. Phased Array Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler (Phased Array UVP) technique was applied to obtain the two-dimensional velocity of the fluid and the axial and tangential velocity fluctuation. It was found that the secondary reverse flow became smaller at the downstream from the bend when the inlet condition on the first bend was swirling flow. In addition, inlet swirling condition influenced mainly on the tangential velocity fluctuation, and its maximum turbulence intensity was 40%.

In-line X-ray phase-contrast imaging of murine liver microvasculature ex vivo

Imaging blood vessels is of importance for determining the vascular distribution of organs and tumors.Phase-contrast X-ray imaging can reveal the vessels in much more detail than conventional X-ray absorption method.Visualizing murine liver microvasculature ex vivo with phase-contrast X-ray imaging was performed at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility.Barium sulfate and physiological saline were used as contrast agents for the blood vessels.Blood vessels of <Φ20μm could be detected by replacing resident blood with physiological saline or barium sulfate.An entire branch of the portal vein (from the main axial portal vein to the ninth generation of branching) could be captured in a single phase-contrast image.It is demonstrated that selective angiography based on phase contrast X-ray imaging,with a physiological material of low Z elements (such as saline) being the contrast agent,is a viable imaging strategy.Further efforts will be focused on using the technique to image tumor angiogenesis.

Nondestructive X-ray imaging of inner structure of soft tissues in phase contrast

An experimental study on nondestructive X-ray imaging of inner structure of soft tissues in phase con-trast has been conducted with Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF). Modification to the beamline setupwas made to enlarge the X-ray beam section and consequently larger samples could be imaged. In-line setup was em-ployed for experiments. Results on a series of samples were given and soft-tissue details of less than 50 μm inside afresh goldfish were obtained. Diagnosis of tumor in its early stage was also investigated taking SD rats as the model.Tumor at the size of ～ 100μm was observed. Potential of this technique in clinic diagnosis was discussed.