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Organista C, Tang R, Shi Z, Jefimovs K, Josell D, Romano L, Spindler S, Kibleur P, Blykers B, Stampanoni M, Boone MN. Implementation of a dual-phase grating interferometer for multi-scale characterization of building materials by tunable dark-field imaging. Sci Rep 2024; 14:384. [PMID: 38172504 PMCID: PMC10764912 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50424-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The multi-scale characterization of building materials is necessary to understand complex mechanical processes, with the goal of developing new more sustainable materials. To that end, imaging methods are often used in materials science to characterize the microscale. However, these methods compromise the volume of interest to achieve a higher resolution. Dark-field (DF) contrast imaging is being investigated to characterize building materials in length scales smaller than the resolution of the imaging system, allowing a direct comparison of features in the nano-scale range and overcoming the scale limitations of the established characterization methods. This work extends the implementation of a dual-phase X-ray grating interferometer (DP-XGI) for DF imaging in a lab-based setup. The interferometer was developed to operate at two different design energies of 22.0 keV and 40.8 keV and was designed to characterize nanoscale-size features in millimeter-sized material samples. The good performance of the interferometer in the low energy range (LER) is demonstrated by the DF retrieval of natural wood samples. In addition, a high energy range (HER) configuration is proposed, resulting in higher mean visibility and good sensitivity over a wider range of correlation lengths in the nanoscale range. Its potential for the characterization of mineral building materials is illustrated by the DF imaging of a Ketton limestone. Additionally, the capability of the DP-XGI to differentiate features in the nanoscale range is proven with the dark-field of Silica nanoparticles at different correlation lengths of calibrated sizes of 106 nm, 261 nm, and 507 nm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caori Organista
- Radiation Physics Research group, Department Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
- Centre for X-ray Tomography, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
- UGent‑Woodlab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
- Pore-Scale Processes in Geomaterials Research Group (PProGRess), Department of Geology, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Ruizhi Tang
- Radiation Physics Research group, Department Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
- Centre for X-ray Tomography, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Zhitian Shi
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | | | - Daniel Josell
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Lucia Romano
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Simon Spindler
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Pierre Kibleur
- Centre for X-ray Tomography, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
- UGent‑Woodlab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Benjamin Blykers
- Centre for X-ray Tomography, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
- Pore-Scale Processes in Geomaterials Research Group (PProGRess), Department of Geology, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marco Stampanoni
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, 5232, Switzerland
| | - Matthieu N Boone
- Radiation Physics Research group, Department Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
- Centre for X-ray Tomography, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
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2
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Navarrete-León C, Doherty A, Savvidis S, Gerli MFM, Piredda G, Astolfo A, Bate D, Cipiccia S, Hagen CK, Olivo A, Endrizzi M. X-ray phase-contrast microtomography of soft tissues using a compact laboratory system with two-directional sensitivity. OPTICA 2023; 10:880-887. [PMID: 37841216 PMCID: PMC10575607 DOI: 10.1364/optica.487270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
X-ray microtomography is a nondestructive, three-dimensional inspection technique applied across a vast range of fields and disciplines, ranging from research to industrial, encompassing engineering, biology, and medical research. Phase-contrast imaging extends the domain of application of x-ray microtomography to classes of samples that exhibit weak attenuation, thus appearing with poor contrast in standard x-ray imaging. Notable examples are low-atomic-number materials, like carbon-fiber composites, soft matter, and biological soft tissues. We report on a compact and cost-effective system for x-ray phase-contrast microtomography. The system features high sensitivity to phase gradients and high resolution, requires a low-power sealed x-ray tube, a single optical element, and fits in a small footprint. It is compatible with standard x-ray detector technologies: in our experiments, we have observed that single-photon counting offered higher angular sensitivity, whereas flat panels provided a larger field of view. The system is benchmarked against known-material phantoms, and its potential for soft-tissue three-dimensional imaging is demonstrated on small-animal organs: a piglet esophagus and a rat heart. We believe that the simplicity of the setup we are proposing, combined with its robustness and sensitivity, will facilitate accessing quantitative x-ray phase-contrast microtomography as a research tool across disciplines, including tissue engineering, materials science, and nondestructive testing in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Navarrete-León
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Adam Doherty
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Savvas Savvidis
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Mattia F. M. Gerli
- UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, Royal Free Hospital, Rowland Hill Street, London, NW3 2PF, UK
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Section, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Giovanni Piredda
- Research Center for Microtechnology, Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, Hochschulstr. 1, 6850, Dornbirn, Austria
| | - Alberto Astolfo
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - David Bate
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Nikon X-Tek Systems Ltd, Tring, Herts, HP23 4JX, UK
| | - Silvia Cipiccia
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Charlotte K. Hagen
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Alessandro Olivo
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Marco Endrizzi
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
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3
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Polikarpov M, Vila-Comamala J, Wang Z, Pereira A, van Gogh S, Gasser C, Jefimovs K, Romano L, Varga Z, Lång K, Schmeltz M, Tessarini S, Rawlik M, Jermann E, Lewis S, Yun W, Stampanoni M. Towards virtual histology with X-ray grating interferometry. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9049. [PMID: 37270642 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35854-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide. Diagnosing breast cancer relies on clinical examination, imaging and biopsy. A core-needle biopsy enables a morphological and biochemical characterization of the cancer and is considered the gold standard for breast cancer diagnosis. A histopathological examination uses high-resolution microscopes with outstanding contrast in the 2D plane, but the spatial resolution in the third, Z-direction, is reduced. In the present paper, we propose two high-resolution table-top systems for phase-contrast X-ray tomography of soft-tissue samples. The first system implements a classical Talbot-Lau interferometer and allows to perform ex-vivo imaging of human breast samples with a voxel size of 5.57 μm. The second system with a comparable voxel size relies on a Sigray MAAST X-ray source with structured anode. For the first time, we demonstrate the applicability of the latter to perform X-ray imaging of human breast specimens with ductal carcinoma in-situ. We assessed image quality of both setups and compared it to histology. We showed that both setups made it possible to target internal features of breast specimens with better resolution and contrast than previously achieved, demonstrating that grating-based phase-contrast X-ray CT could be a complementary tool for clinical histopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Polikarpov
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland.
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - J Vila-Comamala
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
| | - Z Wang
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100080, China
| | - A Pereira
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - S van Gogh
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - C Gasser
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - K Jefimovs
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
| | - L Romano
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Z Varga
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Zürich, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - K Lång
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Translational Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Unilabs Mammography Unit, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
| | - M Schmeltz
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
| | - S Tessarini
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - M Rawlik
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - S Lewis
- Sigray Inc., Concord, CA, 94520, USA
| | - W Yun
- Sigray Inc., Concord, CA, 94520, USA
| | - M Stampanoni
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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4
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Evans JPO, Elarnaut F, Downes D, Lee WK, Arnold EL, Rogers K. Sparse interleaved sampling for high resolution focal construct geometry X-ray tomography. OPTICS EXPRESS 2023; 31:15301-15315. [PMID: 37157634 DOI: 10.1364/oe.484008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate interleaved sampling by multiplexing conical subshells within the tomosynthesis and raster scanning a phantom through a 150 kV shell X-ray beam. Each view comprises pixels sampled on a regular 1 mm grid, which is then upscaled by padding with null pixels before tomosynthesis. We show that upscaled views comprising 1% sample pixels and 99% null pixels increase the contrast transfer function (CTF) computed from constructed optical sections from approximately 0.6 line pairs/mm to 3 line pairs/mm. The driver of our method is to complement work concerning the application of conical shell beams to the measurement of diffracted photons for materials identification. Our approach is relevant to time-critical, and dose-sensitive analytical scanning applications in security screening, process control and medical imaging.
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Josell D, Moffat TP. Extreme Bottom-up Gold Filling of High Aspect Ratio Features. Acc Chem Res 2023; 56:677-688. [PMID: 36848589 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
ConspectusWhere copper interconnects fabricated using superconformal electrodeposition processes have enabled dramatic advances in microelectronics over the past quarter century, gold filled gratings fabricated using superconformal Bi3+-mediated bottom-up filling electrodeposition processes promise to enable a new generation of X-ray imaging and microsystem technologies. Indeed, bottom-up Au-filled gratings have demonstrated excellent performance in X-ray phase contrast imaging of biological soft tissue and other low Z element samples even as studies using gratings with inferior Au fill have captured the potential for broader biomedical application. Four years ago, the Bi-stimulated bottom-up Au electrodeposition process was a scientific novelty where gold deposition was localized entirely on the bottoms of metallized trenches 3-μm-deep and 2-μm-wide, an aspect ratio of only 1.5, on centimeter scale fragments of patterned silicon wafers. Today the room-temperature processes routinely yield uniformly void-free filling of metallized trenches 60-μm-deep and 1-μm-wide, an aspect ratio 60, in gratings patterned across 100 mm Si wafers. Four distinctive characteristics of the evolution of void-free filling in the Bi3+-containing electrolyte are seen in experimental Au filling of fully metallized recessed features such as trenches and vias: (1) an "incubation period" of conformal deposition, (2) subsequent Bi-activated deposition localized on the bottom surface of features, (3) sustained bottom-up deposition that yields void-free filling, and (4) self-passivation of the active growth front at a distance from the feature opening defined by operating conditions. A recent model captures and explains all four features. The electrolyte solutions are simple and nontoxic, being near-neutral pH and composed of Na3Au(SO3)2 + Na2SO3 containing micromolar concentrations of Bi3+ additive, the latter generally introduced through electrodissolution from the metal. The influences of additive concentration, metal ion concentration, electrolyte pH, convection, and applied potential have been examined in some depth using both electroanalytical measurements on planar rotating disk electrodes and studies of feature filling, thereby defining and elucidating relatively wide processing windows for defect-free filling. The process control for bottom-up Au filling processes is observed to be quite flexible, with online changes of potential as well as concentration and pH adjustments during the course of filling compatible with processing. Furthermore, monitoring has enabled optimization of the filling evolution, including to shorten the incubation period for accelerated filling and to fill features of ever higher aspect ratio. The results to date indicate that the demonstrated filling of trenches with an aspect ratio of 60 represents a lower bound, a value determined only by the features presently available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Josell
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Thomas P Moffat
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
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6
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Brombal L, Arfelli F, Menk RH, Rigon L, Brun F. PEPI Lab: a flexible compact multi-modal setup for X-ray phase-contrast and spectral imaging. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4206. [PMID: 36918574 PMCID: PMC10014955 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30316-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/15/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper presents a new flexible compact multi-modal imaging setup referred to as PEPI (Photon-counting Edge-illumination Phase-contrast imaging) Lab, which is based on the edge-illumination (EI) technique and a chromatic detector. The system enables both X-ray phase-contrast (XPCI) and spectral (XSI) imaging of samples on the centimeter scale. This work conceptually follows all the stages in its realization, from the design to the first imaging results. The setup can be operated in four different modes, i.e. photon-counting/conventional, spectral, double-mask EI, and single-mask EI, whereby the switch to any modality is fast, software controlled, and does not require any hardware modification or lengthy re-alignment procedures. The system specifications, ranging from the X-ray tube features to the mask material and aspect ratio, have been quantitatively studied and optimized through a dedicated Geant4 simulation platform, guiding the choice of the instrumentation. The realization of the imaging setup, both in terms of hardware and control software, is detailed and discussed with a focus on practical/experimental aspects. Flexibility and compactness (66 cm source-to-detector distance in EI) are ensured by dedicated motion stages, whereas spectral capabilities are enabled by the Pixirad-1/Pixie-III detector in combination with a tungsten anode X-ray source operating in the range 40-100 kVp. The stability of the system, when operated in EI, has been verified, and drifts leading to mask misalignment of less than 1 [Formula: see text]m have been measured over a period of 54 h. The first imaging results, one for each modality, demonstrate that the system fulfills its design requirements. Specifically, XSI tomographic images of an iodine-based phantom demonstrate the system's quantitativeness and sensibility to concentrations in the order of a few mg/ml. Planar XPCI images of a carpenter bee specimen, both in single and double-mask modes, demonstrate that refraction sensitivity (below 0.6 [Formula: see text]rad in double-mask mode) is comparable with other XPCI systems based on microfocus sources. Phase CT capabilities have also been tested on a dedicated plastic phantom, where the phase channel yielded a 15-fold higher signal-to-noise ratio with respect to attenuation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Brombal
- Department of Physics, University of Trieste, 34127, Trieste, Italy.,Division of Trieste, National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), 34127, Trieste, Italy
| | - Fulvia Arfelli
- Department of Physics, University of Trieste, 34127, Trieste, Italy.,Division of Trieste, National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), 34127, Trieste, Italy
| | - Ralf Hendrik Menk
- Division of Trieste, National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), 34127, Trieste, Italy. .,Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., 34149, Basovizza, TS, Italy.
| | - Luigi Rigon
- Department of Physics, University of Trieste, 34127, Trieste, Italy.,Division of Trieste, National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), 34127, Trieste, Italy
| | - Francesco Brun
- Division of Trieste, National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), 34127, Trieste, Italy.,Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Trieste, 34127, Trieste, Italy
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Spindler S, Etter D, Rawlik M, Polikarpov M, Romano L, Shi Z, Jefimovs K, Wang Z, Stampanoni M. The choice of an autocorrelation length in dark-field lung imaging. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2731. [PMID: 36792717 PMCID: PMC9932147 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29762-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Respiratory diseases are one of the most common causes of death, and their early detection is crucial for prompt treatment. X-ray dark-field radiography (XDFR) is a promising tool to image objects with unresolved micro-structures such as lungs. Using Talbot-Lau XDFR, we imaged inflated porcine lungs together with Polymethylmethacrylat (PMMA) microspheres (in air) of diameter sizes between 20 and 500 [Formula: see text] over an autocorrelation range of 0.8-5.2 [Formula: see text]. The results indicate that the dark-field extinction coefficient of porcine lungs is similar to that of densely-packed PMMA spheres with diameter of [Formula: see text], which is approximately the mean alveolar structure size. We evaluated that, in our case, the autocorrelation length would have to be limited to [Formula: see text] in order to image [Formula: see text]-thick lung tissue without critical visibility reduction (signal saturation). We identify the autocorrelation length to be the critical parameter of an interferometer that allows to avoid signal saturation in clinical lung dark-field imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Spindler
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland. .,Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Dominik Etter
- grid.5991.40000 0001 1090 7501Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland ,grid.482286.2Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Michał Rawlik
- grid.5991.40000 0001 1090 7501Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland ,grid.482286.2Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Maxim Polikarpov
- grid.5991.40000 0001 1090 7501Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland ,grid.482286.2Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Lucia Romano
- grid.5991.40000 0001 1090 7501Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland ,grid.482286.2Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Zhitian Shi
- grid.5991.40000 0001 1090 7501Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland ,grid.482286.2Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Konstantins Jefimovs
- grid.5991.40000 0001 1090 7501Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Zhentian Wang
- grid.482286.2Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland ,grid.12527.330000 0001 0662 3178Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, 100080 Beijing, China ,grid.419897.a0000 0004 0369 313XKey Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging, (Tsinghua University) Ministry of Education, Haidian District, 100080 Beijing, China
| | - Marco Stampanoni
- grid.5991.40000 0001 1090 7501Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland ,grid.482286.2Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
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8
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Planinc I, Ilic I, Dejea H, Garcia-Canadilla P, Gasparovic H, Jurin H, Milicic D, Skoric B, Stampanoni M, Bijnens B, Bonnin A, Cikes M. A Novel Three-Dimensional Approach Towards Evaluating Endomyocardial Biopsies for Follow-Up After Heart Transplantation: X-Ray Phase Contrast Imaging and Its Agreement With Classical Histopathology. Transpl Int 2023; 36:11046. [PMID: 36762268 PMCID: PMC9904361 DOI: 10.3389/ti.2023.11046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Endomyocardial biopsies are the gold standard for surveillance of graft rejection following heart transplantation, and are assessed by classical histopathology using a limited number of previously stained slices from several biopsies. Synchrotron propagation-based X-ray phase contrast imaging is a non-destructive method to image biological samples without tissue preparation, enabling virtual 2D and 3D histopathology. We aimed to show the feasibility of this method to assess acute cellular rejection and its agreement to classical histopathology. Right ventricular biopsies were sampled from 23 heart transplantation recipients (20 males, mean age 54±14 years) as part of standard follow-up. The clinical diagnosis of potential rejection was made using classical histopathology. One additional study sample was harvested and imaged by X-ray phase contrast imaging, producing 3D datasets with 0.65 μm pixel size, and up to 4,320 images per sample. An experienced pathologist graded both histopathological and X-ray phase contrast images in a blinded fashion. The agreement between methods was assessed by weighted kappa, showing substantial agreement (kappa up to 0.80, p < 0.01) between X-ray phase contrast imaging and classical histopathology. X-ray phase contrast imaging does not require tissue processing, allows thorough analysis of a full myocardial sample and allows identification of acute cellular rejection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivo Planinc
- Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ivana Ilic
- Department of Pathology and Cytology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Hector Dejea
- Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland,Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Patricia Garcia-Canadilla
- Institut de Recerca Biomèdica August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain,BCNatal-Barcelona Center for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain,Cardiovascular Diseases and Child Development, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Hrvoje Gasparovic
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Hrvoje Jurin
- Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Davor Milicic
- Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Bosko Skoric
- Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marco Stampanoni
- Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland,Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bart Bijnens
- Institut de Recerca Biomèdica August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain,Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anne Bonnin
- Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Maja Cikes
- Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia,*Correspondence: Maja Cikes,
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9
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Safca N, Stutman D, Anghel E, Negoita F, Ur CA. Experimental demonstration of ultrahigh sensitivity Talbot-Lau interferometer for low dose mammography. Phys Med Biol 2022; 67. [PMID: 36541499 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/aca514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Objective. Even though the techniques used for breast cancer identification have advanced over the years, current mammography based on x-rays absorption, the 'gold standard' screening test at present, still has some shortcomings as concerns sensitivity and specificity to early-stage cancers, due to poor differentiation between tumor and normal tissues, especially in the case of the dense breasts. We investigate a possible additional technique for breast cancer detection with higher sensitivity and low dose, x-ray phase-contrast or refraction-based imaging with ultrahigh angular sensitivity grating interferometers, having several meters length.Approach.Towards this goal, we built and tested on a mammography phantom, a table-top laboratory setup based on a 5.7 m long Talbot-Lau interferometer with angular sensitivity better than 1μrad. We used a high-power x-ray tungsten anode tube with a 400μm focal spot, operated at 40 kVp and 15 mA with a 2 mm aluminum filter.Main results.The results reported in our paper confirm the ultrahigh sensitivity and dose economy possible with our setup. The visibility of objects simulating cancerous formations is strongly increased in the refraction images over the attenuation ones, even at a low dose of 0.32 mGy. Notably, the smallest fiber of 400μm diameter and calcifications specs of 160μm in diameter are detected, even though the spatial resolution at the object of our magnification M ∼ 2 setup with a 400μm source spot is only ∼250μm.Significance.Our experiments on a mammography phantom illustrate the capabilities of the proposed technique and can open the way toward low-dose interferometric mammography.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Safca
- Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Bucharest-Magurele, Romania.,Engineering and Applications of Lasers and Accelerators Doctoral School (SDIALA), University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
| | - D Stutman
- Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Bucharest-Magurele, Romania.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - E Anghel
- Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Bucharest-Magurele, Romania.,Department of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Romania
| | - F Negoita
- Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
| | - C A Ur
- Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Bucharest-Magurele, Romania.,Engineering and Applications of Lasers and Accelerators Doctoral School (SDIALA), University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
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10
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Makarova OV, Divan R, Moldovan N, Czaplewski DA, Esposito M, Endrizzi M, Tang CM, Ferrara JD, Olivo A. Freestanding high-aspect-ratio gold masks for low-energy, phase-based x-ray microscopy. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2022; 34:10.1088/1361-6528/ac9b5f. [PMID: 36260979 PMCID: PMC9662782 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac9b5f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
High-resolution, x-ray phase contrast microscopy, a key technique with promising potential in biomedical imaging and diagnostics, is based on narrow-slit high-aspect-ratio gold gratings. We present the development, fabrication details, and experimental testing of the freestanding 10μm thick gold membrane masks with an array of 0.9-1.5μm void slit apertures for a novel low-energy x-ray microscope. The overall mask size is 4 mm × 4 mm, with a grating pitch of 7.5μm, 6.0-6.6μm wide gold bars are supported by 3μm wide crosslinks at 400μm intervals. The fabrication process is based on gold electroplating into a silicon mold coated with various thin films to form a voltage barrier, plating base, and sacrificial layer, followed by the mold removal to obtain the freestanding gold membrane with void slit apertures. We discuss key aspects for the materials and processes, including gold structures homogeneity, residual stresses, and prevention of collapsing of the grid elements. We further demonstrate the possibility to obtain high-resolution, high contrast 2D images of biological samples using an incoherent, rotating anode x-ray tube.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga V Makarova
- Creatv MicroTech Inc., Chicago IL 60612, United States of America
| | - Ralu Divan
- Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, IL 60439, United States of America
| | - Nicolaie Moldovan
- Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, IL 60439, United States of America
- Alcorix Co, Plainfield, IL 60544, United States of America
| | - David A Czaplewski
- Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, IL 60439, United States of America
| | - Michela Esposito
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Marco Endrizzi
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Cha-Mei Tang
- Creatv MicroTech Inc., Potomac MD 20854, United States of America
| | - Joseph D Ferrara
- Rigaku Americas Corp, The Woodlands, TX 77371, United States of America
| | - Alessandro Olivo
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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11
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Study on the Cytotoxic Microstructure of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles by X-Ray Phase-Contrast CT Imaging. CONTRAST MEDIA & MOLECULAR IMAGING 2022; 2022:2413922. [PMID: 35992550 PMCID: PMC9356853 DOI: 10.1155/2022/2413922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
To address the problem of microstructural analysis of titania nanoparticles with high cytotoxicity, the authors propose X-ray phase-comparative CT imaging studies. In this method, the HE-stained section samples were compared with the X-ray phase-contrast CT imaging microscopic images, and 3D texture analysis was used to observe the changes in the preparation of hepatocyte microstructures in the two groups. The results show that X-ray phase-contrast CT imaging microscopic images and their larger image size are closely related to HE staining images, and X-ray phase-contrast CT microscopic images can observe important data of hepatocytes from multiple angles. The ship skeleton extraction method based on the endpoint limit also has advantages over traditional algorithms in extraction accuracy and can provide more 3D feature files, confirming the growth and transformation of normal hepatocytes into hepatocyte cytotoxic microstructures. The distribution effect of using the ensemble process is better than the simple 2D feature set and 3D feature set, and the overall accuracy is improved; the result distribution of the tree determination and random forest methods is also better than that of the support vector machine method. The experimental results show that the X-ray phase-contrast CT images can highlight the 2D and 3D imaging features of the hepatotoxic microstructure of TiO2 nanoparticles and provide data for quantitative analysis.
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12
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Dresselhaus JL, Fleckenstein H, Domaracký M, Prasciolu M, Ivanov N, Carnis J, Murray KT, Morgan AJ, Chapman HN, Bajt S. Precise wavefront characterization of x-ray optical elements using a laboratory source. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2022; 93:073704. [PMID: 35922318 DOI: 10.1063/5.0092269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Improvements in x-ray optics critically depend on the measurement of their optical performance. The knowledge of wavefront aberrations, for example, can be used to improve the fabrication of optical elements or to design phase correctors to compensate for these errors. At present, the characterization of such optics is made using intense x-ray sources, such as synchrotrons. However, the limited access to these facilities can substantially slow down the development process. Improvements in the brightness of lab-based x-ray micro-sources in combination with the development of new metrology methods, particularly ptychographic x-ray speckle tracking, enable characterization of x-ray optics in the lab with a precision and sensitivity not possible before. Here, we present a laboratory setup that utilizes a commercially available x-ray source and can be used to characterize different types of x-ray optics. The setup is used in our laboratory on a routine basis to characterize multilayer Laue lenses of high numerical aperture and other optical elements. This typically includes measurements of the wavefront distortions, optimum operating photon energy, and focal length of the lens. To check the sensitivity and accuracy of this laboratory setup, we compared the results to those obtained at the synchrotron and saw no significant difference. To illustrate the feedback of measurements on performance, we demonstrated the correction of the phase errors of a particular multilayer Laue lens using a 3D printed compound refractive phase plate.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Lukas Dresselhaus
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Holger Fleckenstein
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Martin Domaracký
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Mauro Prasciolu
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nikolay Ivanov
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jerome Carnis
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kevin T Murray
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andrew J Morgan
- School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Henry N Chapman
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Saša Bajt
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
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13
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Mikhaylov A, Zakharova M, Vlnieska V, Khanda A, Bremer S, Zuber M, Henrique Pezzin S, Kunka D. Inverted Hartmann mask made by deep X-ray lithography for single-shot multi-contrast X-ray imaging with laboratory setup. OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 30:8494-8509. [PMID: 35299301 DOI: 10.1364/oe.452114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of an inverted Hartmann mask and its application for multi-contrast X-ray imaging of polymer composite material in a laboratory setup. Hartmann masks open new possibilities for high-speed X-ray imaging, obtaining orientation-independent information on internal structures without rotating the object. The mask was manufactured with deep X-ray lithography and gold electroplating on a low-absorbing polyimide substrate. Such an approach allows us to produce gratings with a small period and high aspect ratio, leading to a higher spatial resolution and extension towards higher X-ray energies. Tuning the manufacturing process, we achieved a homogeneous patterned area without supporting structures, thus avoiding losses on visibility. We tested mask performance in a laboratory setup with a conventional flat panel detector and assessed mask imaging capabilities using a tailored phantom sample of various sizes. We performed multi-modal X-ray imaging of epoxy matrix polymer composites reinforced with glass fibers and containing microcapsules filled with a healing agent. Hartmann masks made by X-ray lithography enabled fast-tracking of structural changes in low absorbing composite materials and of a self-healing mechanism triggered by mechanical stress.
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14
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van Gogh S, Wang Z, Rawlik M, Etmann C, Mukherjee S, Schönlieb CB, Angst F, Boss A, Stampanoni M. INSIDEnet: Interpretable nonexpansive data-efficient network for denoising in grating interferometry breast CT. Med Phys 2022; 49:3729-3748. [PMID: 35257395 PMCID: PMC9311686 DOI: 10.1002/mp.15595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. Unfortunately, current breast imaging techniques all suffer from certain limitations: they are either not fully three-dimensional, have insufficient resolution or low soft-tissue contrast. Grating Interferometry Breast Computed Tomography (GI-BCT) is a promising X-ray phase contrast modality that could overcome these limitations by offering high soft-tissue contrast and excellent 3D resolution. To enable the transition of this technology to clinical practice, dedicated data processing algorithms must be developed in order to effectively retrieve the signals of interest from the measured raw data. METHODS This article proposes a novel denoising algorithm which can cope with the high noise amplitudes and heteroscedasticity which arise in GI-BCT when operated in a low-dose regime to effectively regularize the ill-conditioned GI-BCT inverse problem. We present a data-driven algorithm called INSIDEnet which combines different ideas such as multiscale image processing, transform-domain filtering, transform learning and explicit orthogonality to build an Interpretable NonexpanSIve Data-Efficient network (INSIDEnet). RESULTS We apply the method to simulated breast phantom datasets and to real data acquired on a GI-BCT prototype and show that the proposed algorithm outperforms traditional state-of-the-art filters and is competitive with deep neural networks. The strong inductive bias given by the proposed model's architecture allows to reliably train the algorithm with very limited data while providing high model interpretability, thus offering a great advantage over classical convolutional neural networks (CNNs). CONCLUSIONS The proposed INSIDEnet is highly data-efficient, interpretable and outperforms state-of-the-art CNNs when trained on very limited training data. We expect the proposed method to become an important tool as part of a dedicated Plug-and-Play GI-BCT reconstruction framework, needed to translate this promising technology to the clinics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano van Gogh
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Photon Science Division, X-ray tomography group, Forschungsstrasse 111, Villigen PSI, 5232, Switzerland.,ETH Zürich, Department for Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, X-ray tomography group, Gloriastrasse 35, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
| | - Zhentian Wang
- Tsinghua University, Department of Engineering Physics, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, China.,Key Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University) of Ministry of Education, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Michał Rawlik
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Photon Science Division, X-ray tomography group, Forschungsstrasse 111, Villigen PSI, 5232, Switzerland.,ETH Zürich, Department for Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, X-ray tomography group, Gloriastrasse 35, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
| | - Christian Etmann
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge Image Analysis group, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
| | - Subhadip Mukherjee
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge Image Analysis group, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
| | - Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge Image Analysis group, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
| | - Florian Angst
- University Hospital Zürich, Institute for diagnostic and interventional Radiology, Rämistrasse 100, Zürich, 8091, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Boss
- University Hospital Zürich, Institute for diagnostic and interventional Radiology, Rämistrasse 100, Zürich, 8091, Switzerland
| | - Marco Stampanoni
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Photon Science Division, X-ray tomography group, Forschungsstrasse 111, Villigen PSI, 5232, Switzerland.,ETH Zürich, Department for Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, X-ray tomography group, Gloriastrasse 35, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
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15
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Semi-classical Monte Carlo algorithm for the simulation of X-ray grating interferometry. Sci Rep 2022; 12:2485. [PMID: 35169138 PMCID: PMC8847374 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05965-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditional simulation techniques such as wave optics methods and Monte Carlo (MC) particle transport cannot model both interference and inelastic scattering phenomena within one framework. Based on the rules of quantum mechanics to calculate probabilities, we propose a new semi-classical MC algorithm for efficient and simultaneous modeling of scattering and interference processes. The similarities to MC particle transport allow the implementation as a flexible c++ object oriented extension of EGSnrc-a well-established MC toolkit. In addition to previously proposed Huygens principle based transport through optics components, new variance reduction techniques for the transport through gratings are presented as transport options to achieve the required improvement in speed and memory costs necessary for an efficient exploration (system design-dose estimations) of the medical implementation of X-ray grating interferometry (GI), an emerging imaging technique currently subject of tremendous efforts towards clinical translation. The feasibility of simulation of interference effects is confirmed in four academic cases and an experimental table-top GI setup. Comparison with conventional MC transport show that deposited energy features of EGSnrc are conserved.
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16
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Josell D, Braun TM, Moffat TP. Mechanism of Bismuth Stimulated Bottom-up Gold Feature Filling. JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY 2022; 169:10.1149/1945-7111/acaccc. [PMID: 36935768 PMCID: PMC10020953 DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/acaccc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The mechanism underlying Bi 3+-stimulated bottom-up Au filling and self-passivation in trenches and vias in slightly alkaline Na 3 Au(SO 3)2 + Na 2 SO 3 electrolytes is explored. The impacts of electrolyte components Na 3 Au(SO 3)2, Na 2 SO 3 and Bi 3+ and potential-dependent kinetic factors on the rate of Au electrodeposition are quantified experimentally. Derived parameters are applied within the surfactant conservation Curvature Enhanced Accelerator Coverage model to simulate the filling of high aspect ratio trenches. It is observed that Bi adsorption accelerates the Au deposition rate with a non-linear dependence occurring around a critical coverage. Further, the impact of electrolyte composition is such that gradients of A u ( S O 3 ) 2 3 - and S O 3 2 - derived from reduction of A u ( S O 3 ) 2 3 - during deposition accentuate deposition farther from the feature opening. These factors and surface area reduction at the bottoms of filling features localize active deposition to feature bottoms. Ultimately, weakening of the concentration gradients and associated kinetics as bottom-up feature filling progresses reduces the Bi coverage on the growth front below the critical value and bottom-up growth terminates. Good agreement is observed with key experimental features including the incubation period of conformal deposition, transition to bottom-up growth, subsequent bottom-up filling and finally self-passivation as the growth front nears the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Josell
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - T M Braun
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - T P Moffat
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
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17
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Josell D, Osborn W, Williams ME, Miao H. Robust Bottom-Up Gold Filling of Deep Trenches and Gratings. JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY 2022; 169:10.1149/1945-7111/ac5c0b. [PMID: 36936547 PMCID: PMC10020987 DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/ac5c0b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
This work extends an extreme variant of superconformal Au electrodeposition to deeper device architectures while exploring factors that constrain its function and the robustness of void-free processing. The unconventional bottom-up process is used to fill diffraction gratings with trenches 94 μm deep and 305 μm deep, with aspect ratios (height/width) of just below 20 and 15, respectively, in near-neutral 0.16 mol·L-1 Na3Au(SO3)2 + 0.64 mol·L-1 Na2SO3 electrolyte containing 50 μmol·L-1 Bi3+. Although the aspect ratios are modest compared to previously demonstrated void-free filling beyond AR = 60, the deepest trenches filled exceed those in previous work by 100 μm - a nearly 50 % increase in depth. Processes that substantially accelerate the start of bottom-up deposition demonstrate a linkage between transport and void-free filling. Final profiles are highly uniform across 65 mm square gratings because of self-passivation inherent in the process. Electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction confirm the fully dense Au and void-free filling suggested by the electrochemical measurements. X-ray transmission "fringe visibility" average more than 80 % at 50 kV X-ray tube voltage across the deeper gratings and 70 % at 40 kV across the shallower gratings, also consistent with uniformly dense, void-free fill across the gratings.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Josell
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - W Osborn
- Materials Measurement Science Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, USA
| | - M E Williams
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - H Miao
- General Optics, LLC, Zionsville, IN 46077
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18
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Dreier T, Peruzzi N, Lundström U, Bech M. Improved resolution in x-ray tomography by super-resolution. APPLIED OPTICS 2021; 60:5783-5794. [PMID: 34263797 DOI: 10.1364/ao.427934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, super-resolution imaging is described and evaluated for x-ray tomography and is compared with standard tomography and upscaling during reconstruction. Blurring is minimized due to the negligible point spread of photon counting detectors and an electromagnetically movable micro-focus x-ray spot. Scans are acquired in high and low magnification geometry, where the latter is used to minimize penumbral blurring from the x-ray source. Sharpness and level of detail can be significantly increased in reconstructed slices to the point where the source size becomes the limiting factor. The achieved resolution of the different methods is quantified and compared using biological samples via the edge spread function, modulation transfer function, and Fourier ring correlation.
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19
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Jefimovs K, Vila-Comamala J, Arboleda C, Wang Z, Romano L, Shi Z, Kagias M, Stampanoni M. Fabrication of X-ray Gratings for Interferometric Imaging by Conformal Seedless Gold Electroplating. MICROMACHINES 2021; 12:517. [PMID: 34066906 PMCID: PMC8147938 DOI: 10.3390/mi12050517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We present a method to produce small pitch gratings for X-ray interferometric imaging applications, allowing the phase sensitivity to be increased and/or the length of the laboratory setup to be minimized. The method is based on fabrication of high aspect ratio silicon microstructures using deep reactive ion etching (Bosch technique) of dense grating arrays and followed by conformal electroplating of Au. We demonstrated that low resistivity Si substrates (<0.01 Ohm·cm) enable the metal seeding layer deposition step to be avoided, which is normally required to initiate the electroplating process. Etching conditions were optimized to realize Si recess structures with a slight bottom tapering, which ensured the void-free Au filling of the trenches. Vapor HF was used to remove the native oxide layer from the Si grating surface prior to electroplating in the cyanide-based Au electrolyte. Fabrication of Au gratings with pitch in the range 1.2-3.0 µm was successfully realized. A substantial improved aspect ratio of 45:1 for a pitch size of 1.2 µm was achieved with respect to the prior art on 4-inch wafer-based technology. The fabricated Au gratings were tested with X-ray interferometers in Talbot-Laue configuration with measured visibility of 13% at an X-ray design energy of 26 keV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantins Jefimovs
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Joan Vila-Comamala
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Carolina Arboleda
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Zhentian Wang
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Lucia Romano
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Physics and CNR-IMM, University of Catania, 64 via S. Sofia, 95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Zhitian Shi
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Matias Kagias
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
| | - Marco Stampanoni
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland; (J.V.-C.); (C.A.); (Z.W.); (L.R.); (Z.S.); (M.K.); (M.S.)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
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20
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Josell D, Shi Z, Jefimovs K, Guzenko V, Beauchamp C, Peer L, Polikarpov M, Moffat T. Bottom-Up Gold Filling in New Geometries and Yet Higher Aspect Ratio Gratings for Hard X-Ray Interferometry. JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY 2021; 168:10.1149/1945-7111/ac1d7e. [PMID: 36938320 PMCID: PMC10020954 DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/ac1d7e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
An extreme bottom-up filling variant of superconformal Au electrodeposition yielding void-free filling of recessed features is demonstrated with diffraction gratings composed of a two-dimensional patterned "chessboard" array of square vias of aspect ratio (depth/width) ≈ 23 as well as one-dimensional arrays of trenches having aspect ratios exceeding 50 and 65. Deposition on planar and patterned substrates is examined in several near-neutral x mol·L-1 Na3Au(SO3)2 + 0.64 mol·L-1 Na2SO3 electrolytes (x = [0.08, 0.16, 0.32]) containing ≈ 50 μmol·L-1 Bi3+ additive. The electrolytes are similar to those used in earlier work, although the upper bound on Au(SO3)2 concentration is twofold greater than previously described. Filling results are complemented by associated current and deposition charge transients whose features, particularly with well controlled pH, exhibit repeatable behaviors and timescales for incubation of passive deposition followed by bottom-up, void-free filling. While incompletely filled features can exhibit substantial via-to-via variation in fill height, self-passivation that follows complete bottom-up filling results in highly uniform filling profiles across the substrates. Visibility measurements capture the quality and uniformity of the as-formed wafer scale gratings. X-ray phase contrast imaging demonstrates their potential for imaging applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Josell
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - Z. Shi
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, Zürich 8092, Switzerland
| | - K. Jefimovs
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, Zürich 8092, Switzerland
| | - V. Guzenko
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - C. Beauchamp
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - L. Peer
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, Zürich 8092, Switzerland
| | - M. Polikarpov
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, Zürich 8092, Switzerland
| | - T.P. Moffat
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
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