Orbital radiation imaging with various physical principles

This paper describes the characteristics of orbital radiation and authors' investigations on the high spatial resolution X ray-CT, fluorescence X ray-CT and phase-type X ray imaging. Orbital radiation is an X ray generated by relativistic electron bended by magnet in the synchrotron and possesses the high photon density/unit area (>100,000 times higher than that of the ordinary X ray generated by the tube) and broad energy spectrum, which make it possible to select the X ray with appropriate energy for the target. The high spatial resolution X-CT has the resolution of 0.05 mm in contrast to 0.5 mm of the ordinary X-CT and is used for the hard structure like tooth and bone. The CT images of rat lumbar vertebrae and artificial bone are presented. Fluorescence X-CT is utilized for detection of trace elements. Images of the thyroid are presented on iodine detection. Concerning the phase-type X-imaging, the principle using the X ray interferometer is described and actual phase-images of blood vessels and 3-demensional ones of metastatic colon cancer in the liver are given. Imaging with the orbital radiation can be a useful technique in the near future. (K.H.)