Qualitative comparison of several phase correction algorithms in single-image in-line X-ray phase contrast tomography

In recent years, phase contrast has gained importance in the field of X-ray imaging and more particular in high-resolution X-ray computed tomography or micro-CT. For phase propagation imaging, no additional hardware or specific setup is required, which makes the effect inherent to micro-CT where it is manifested as an edge-enhancement effect. As such, it can be beneficial for qualitative analysis of a 3D volume. Nevertheless, it induces unreal gray values and is thus often considered as an imaging artefact which hinders proper quantitative 3D analysis. Several methods exist to reduce this phase contrast effect or to retrieve the phase information from the mixed phase-and-amplitude images. In this presentation, a comparison will be made between 2 phase retrieval algorithms and 2 phase correction algorithms. Of these 2 latter, one can be performed on the reconstructed volume, which clearly facilitates the operation of phase correction