Projection radiography and tomography

Our program on heavy-ion radiography began soon after heavy ions were accelerated to high energies. Heavy ions are capable of very high electron density discrimination combined with good radial image resolution and low dose. Since heavy-ion beams produce many secondries, plastic nuclear detectors have an advantage for recording heavy-ion images. Projection imaging is now a practical technique that can resolve density differences between normal tissue and tumor tissue in some cases in which X rays could not make a distinction. Initial attempts at heavy-ion tomography also indicate potential for high resolution in this field. The physical basis for heavy-ion radiography and tomographic reconstruction studies are discussed in detail