X-ray computed tomography (CT) is an invaluable technique for generating three-dimensional (3D) images of inert or living specimens. X-ray CT is used in many scientific, industrial, and societal fields. Compared to conventional 2D X-ray imaging, CT requires longer acquisition times because up to several thousand projections are required for reconstructing a single high-resolution 3D volume. Plenoptic imaging—an emerging technology in visible light field photography—highlights the potential of capturing quasi-3D information with a single exposure. Here, we show the first demonstration of a flexible plenoptic microscope operating with hard X-rays; it is used to computationally reconstruct images at different depths along the optical axis. The experimental results are consistent with the expected axial refocusing, precision, and spatial resolution. Thus, this proof-of-concept experiment opens the horizons to quasi-3D X-ray imaging, without sample rotation, with spatial resolution of a few hundred nanometres.

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Imagine Optic, Talence, France
doi.org/10.3390/photonics9020098
Photonics
Volumetric medical x-ray imaging at extremely low dose
Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, Amsterdam (CWI), The Netherlands

Longo, E., Alj, D., Batenburg, J., de la Rochefoucauld, O., Herzog, C., Greving, I., … Zeitoun, P. (2022). Flexible plenoptic X-ray microscopy. Photonics, 9(2), 98.1–98.13. doi:10.3390/photonics9020098