X-ray imaging is a corner stone of breast cancer diagnosis. By exploiting the phase shift of X-rays rather than their attenuation, phase-contrast tomography has the potential to dramatically increase the visibility of small and low contrast features, thus leading to better diagnosis. This thesis presents research on the first synchrotron-based project developing a clinical phase-contrast breast computed tomography (CT) setup at Elettra, the Italian Syncrotron Radiation Facility. This book includes a comprehensive theoretical background on propagation-based phase-contrast imaging, exploring and extending the most recent image formation models. Along with theory, many practical implementation and optimization issues, ranging from detector-specific processing to setup geometry, are tackled on the basis of a large number of experimental evidences. Most of the modelling results and data analysis have general validity, being a valuable framework for optimization of phase-contrast setups. Results obtained at synchrotron are also compared with "real world" laboratory sources: both a first-of-its-kind comparison with one of the few hospital breast CT systems and a state-of-the-art implementation of monochromatic phase-contrast micro-tomography with a conventional rotating anode source are presented. On a more general level, this work sheds a light on the importance of synchrotron-based clinical programs, which are key to trigger the long-anticipated transition of phase-contrast imaging from synchrotrons to hospitals.

Nominated as an outstanding PhD thesis by the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics and the University of Trieste Makes important contribution to the optimization of x-ray tomography using synchrotron radiation Adds to the weight of evidence supporting the transition of phase contrast imaging from synchrotrons to hospitals

Inhalt
Introduction.- Physics of Propagation-based X-ray Tomography.- Propagation-based Breast CT and SYRMA-3D Project.- Detector and Pre-processing.- Experimental Optimization of Propagation-based BCT.- Three-Dimensional Imaging: A Clinically Oriented Focus.- Do We Need Clinical Applications in Synchrotrons?.- Conclusions. <p