Generalized diffraction enhanced imaging: application to tomography.

A simple generalization of the diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) technique, called generalized DEI (GDEI), and its application to tomographic imaging are herein presented. In planar imaging, the GDEI algorithm combines three input images (acquired at different analyzer positions) to deliver three parametric images, providing information respectively on absorptive, refractive and ultra-small-angle scattering features of the sample. The application of the same algorithm in computed tomography (CT-GDEI), acquiring three tomographic datasets at different analyzer positions, is formally justified. Experimental tests have been conducted at the SYRMEP beamline of ELETTRA (Trieste, Italy) by means of custom phantoms, featuring absorption, refraction and ultra-small-angle scattering. The results show that CT-GDEI provides a simple way to map the information relative to the three effects in three parametric tomographic images.