Phase-contrast and fluorescent X-ray imaging for biomedical researches

Synchrotron X-ray imaging systems with phase-contrast and fluorescent techniques have been developed for biomedical researches. Since phase-contrast X-ray imaging with an X-ray interferometer is a highly sensitive imaging technique to differentiate the inner soft tissue in biological object, detailed morphological structures can be imaged without the use of contrast material. Fluorescent X-ray CT detects specific heavy atomic number elements such as iodine at the order of picogram in a volume of 10−6 ml, so the functional information with labeling agents can be obtained. Here, I describe recent in vivo and ex vivo experimental results obtained by these imaging techniques.