Refraction-based tomosynthesis: Proof of the concept

Tomosynthesis is a well known technique for imaging a plane in a target by blurring other planes in the target. Commonly, the tomosynthesis is based on the x-ray absorption contrast. Recently, methods for generating other x-ray contrasts were developed. One of them, the so-called refraction contrast, is extremely sensitive to soft tissues and small defects. It was used as the base for the computed tomography. However, a very promising application of this contrast in the tomosynthesis remains undeveloped. This letter is dedicated to this problem. It includes both theoretical background and experimental implementation of the idea