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Invasive extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) disease (IED), characterised by sepsis and bacteraemia, is a major global healthcare concern worsened by emerging multidrug resistant (MDR) strains. The development of multivalent prophylactic vaccines targeting E. coli strains of IED-associated O-serotypes could address this. A better understanding of O-serotype distribution is required for this purpose. Here, we characterised O-serotype prevalence and drug resistance among ExPEC bacteraemia isolates in Japan.E. coli blood isolates from patients aged ≥60 years with bacteraemia were obtained from a retrospective surveillance study in Japan (2015-2017). O-serotyping was performed by agglutination; for isolates non-typeable by agglutination, O-genotyping was performed. Antimicrobial susceptibility was evaluated by broth microdilution using a 21-antibiotic panel. The frequency of drug resistant (DR) isolates was evaluated by antimicrobial susceptibility testing.Of 401 ExPEC bacteraemia isolates evaluated, the most prevalent O-serotype (≥1%) was O25 (28.7% [n = 115]), followed by O1 (14.2% [n = 57]), O2 (8.5% n = 34]), O6 (5.5% [n = 22]), O75, O18, O13, O16, O15, O4, O46/O134, O86, O8 and O83 (each5% prevalence). These 14 O-serotypes accounted for 81.5% of isolates collected. In total, 19% (n = 77) of isolates were DR ≥ 3, of which 59.7% were O25. Fluoroquinolone-resistance among all and O25 isolates was most prevalent (35.7% and 84.3%, respectively). Almost all (98%) isolates identified as O25 were of subtype O25B.E. coli serotype O25B showed the highest prevalence and highest multidrug resistance among ExPEC bacteraemia isolates from patients ≥60 years in Japan. Our data may inform development of multivalent glycoconjugate vaccines to prevent IED.

Auditory ossicles in the middle ear and bony labyrinth of the inner ear are highly mineralized in adult mammals. Cellular mechanisms underlying formation of dense bone during development are unknown. Here, we found that osteoblast‐like cells synthesizing highly mineralized hearing‐related bones produce both type I and type II collagens as the bone matrix, while conventional osteoblasts and chondrocytes primarily produce type I and type II collagens, respectively. Furthermore, these osteoblast‐like cells were not labeled in a “conventional osteoblast”‐specific green fluorescent protein (GFP) mouse line. Type II collagen‐producing osteoblast‐like cells were not chondrocytes as they express osteocalcin, localize along alizarin‐labeled osteoid, and form osteocyte lacunae and canaliculi, as do conventional osteoblasts. Auditory ossicles and the bony labyrinth exhibit not only higher bone matrix mineralization but also a higher degree of apatite orientation than do long bones. Therefore, we conclude that these type II collagen‐producing hypermineralizing osteoblasts (termed here auditory osteoblasts) represent a new osteoblast subtype. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)., Type II collagen‐producing auditory osteoblasts highly mineralize hearing related bones.

X-ray phase imaging provides higher sensitivity to polymer materials made of light elements than the sensitivity provided by conventional X-ray transmission imaging that relies on absorption contrast. High-speed X-ray phase imaging has recently been studied using pink-beam synchrotron radiation and a Talbot interferometer to enable dynamic observation. In this study, we adopted high-speed X-ray phase imaging for the inner visualization of polymer materials under laser engraving. A sequence of phase-stepping-based phase imaging with a temporal resolution of 5 ms was established by synchronizing an X-ray detector with the linear motions of a grating and a sample. The laser and X-ray paths were aligned orthogonally, and the engraving region was observed from the material surface in the depth direction, in which ablation followed by bubble formation with a certain time delay was demonstrated.

Talbot-Lau interferometers are widely used for X-ray phase imaging/tomography. For thick objects or materials including metals, high-energy X-rays should be used. However, absorption gratings with extremely high aspect-ratios (AR) are necessary but are hard to be fabricated by current microfabrication techniques. As an approach without using high-AR absorption gratings, we developed the high-energy X-ray phase imaging device with a structured anode X-ray source, which has tungsten target array embedded in a diamond substrate. X-rays are emitted from the tungsten region, and therefore G0 can be omitted. We will show the results of high-energy X-ray phase imaging and tomography performed with a design energy of 82 keV.

Time-resolved x-ray phase tomography using a Talbot interferometer and white synchrotron radiation can provide a three-dimensional movie for visualizing the structural change of materials consisting of light elements. In this study, time-resolved x-ray stroboscopic phase tomography using a Talbot interferometer is demonstrated for a vibrating object under 24 Hz compression-stretch fatigue loading. Moire patterns are recorded by synchronizing drivers for a shutter, grating displacement, and sample rotation with an x-ray camera with a 200 µs exposure, and phase tomograms are reconstructed at specific motion phases of the vibration. The measurement lasts for a few minutes and the δ value changes before breaking, which is considered due to plastic deformation of soft materials under external vibration are depicted three-dimensionally.

X-ray phase imaging based on X-ray Talbot-Lau interferometry is an emerging nondestructive testing (NDT) method applicable to materials consisting of light elements such as organic and plastic materials. Aiming at future application to the examination of objects carried on conveyor systems, a scanner-type X-ray phase imaging apparatus is developed. Following the verification of the algorithm for phase-scanner image formation (S. Bachche et al., Sci. Rep., 2017), we report on a development with a desk-sized compact configuration and a 200-mm-wide field of view. Gratings used to construct an X-ray Talbot-Lau interferometer are bent and tiled. A scan speed of 9.2 mm/s with a spatial resolution of 0.29 mm is achieved in resultant images of absorption and scattering. Three scattering images are obtained for a carbon fiber reinforced plastic sample by changing its orientation against the gratings to visualize anisotropic fibrous structures.

Gadolinium absorption gratings are critically important devices for grating-based neutron dark-field and phase-contrast imaging. The evaporation process is an excellent candidate for preparing Gd gratings large enough for imaging applications. However, there is some concern about the lower average density of obliquely evaporated Gd, which sometimes grows with many voids that are caused by shadowing effects. We have fabricated Gd gratings with 9-µm and 4-µm pitches as part of our design and measured the density distributions of the resulting Gd deposits by three-dimensional X-ray microtomography. The obtained tomographic image data is helpful not only for fabrication process design but also estimating device performance without performing neutron irradiation experiments.

Owing to the development of X‐ray focusing optics during the past decades, synchrotron‐based X‐ray microscopy techniques allow the study of specimens with unprecedented spatial resolution, down to 10 nm, using soft and medium X‐ray photon energies, though at the expense of the field of view (FOV). One of the approaches to increase the FOV to square millimetres is raster‐scanning of the specimen using a single nanoprobe; however, this results in a long data acquisition time. This work employs an array of inclined biconcave parabolic refractive multi‐lenses (RMLs), fabricated by deep X‐ray lithography and electroplating to generate a large number of long X‐ray foci. Since the FOV is limited by the pattern height if a single RML is used by impinging X‐rays parallel to the substrate, many RMLs at regular intervals in the orthogonal direction were fabricated by tilted exposure. By inclining the substrate correspondingly to the tilted exposure, 378000 X‐ray line foci were generated with a length in the centimetre range and constant intervals in the sub‐micrometre range. The capability of this new X‐ray focusing device was first confirmed using ray‐tracing simulations and then using synchrotron radiation at BL20B2 of SPring‐8, Japan. Taking account of the fact that the refractive lens is effective for focusing high‐energy X‐rays, the experiment was performed with 35 keV X‐rays. Next, by scanning a specimen through the line foci, this device was used to perform large FOV pixel super‐resolution scanning transmission hard X‐ray microscopy (PSR‐STHXM) with a 780 ± 40 nm spatial resolution within an FOV of 1.64 cm × 1.64 cm (limited by the detector area) and a total scanning time of 4 min. Biomedical implant abutments fabricated via selective laser melting using Ti–6Al–4V medical alloy were measured by PSR‐STHXM, suggesting its unique potential for studying extended and thick specimens. Although the super‐resolution function was realized in one dimension in this study, it can be expanded to two dimensions by aligning a pair of presented devices orthogonally., A new X‐ray focusing device generates hundreds of thousands of line foci, periodically spaced in the sub‐micrometre range, with centimetre length. It enables to achieve large FOV pixel super‐resolution scanning transmission hard X‐ray microscopy. image

X-ray phase imaging that uses the phenomena of X-ray refraction and scattering to generate image contrast has the potential to overcome the drawback of conventional X-ray radiography in observing biological soft tissues. After its dawn at synchrotron radiation facilities 30 years ago, the development of X-ray phase imaging is expanding to hospitals by grating-based phase-imaging approaches available with a conventional X-ray tube. In this review, after introducing the physical advantages and methodological details of X-ray phase imaging, recent trials of instrumentation in hospitals for diagnoses of rheumatoid arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are introduced.

X-ray Talbot-Lau interferometry is one of the x-ray phase imaging methods that has high sensitivity in depicting soft tissues. Unlike earlier x-ray phase imaging methods that required particular types of x-ray sources, such as a synchrotron or a micro-focus x-ray tube, x-ray Talbot-Lau interferometry enables to perform clinical x-ray phase imaging using a conventional x-ray source with a relatively compact configuration. We developed an apparatus to depict cartilage in the metacarpophalangeal joints of the hands. In addition, we examined the apparatus performance by applying it to healthy volunteers and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Cartilage deformation, which is thought to be a precursor of destruction of the joints, was successfully depicted by the apparatus, suggesting a potential early diagnosis of RA.

Electron microscopy is a powerful tool for visualizing the shapes of sub-nanometer objects. However, Contrast Transfer Function (CTF) principally restricts lower frequency components in the image. To overcome this problem, phase-plate techniques have been proposed and currently Hole Free Phase Plate (HFPP) and Volta Phase Plate (VPP) are widely used especially for biological specimens to retrieve low frequency information of the sample's potential distributions. In this report, we have developed a new phase-contrast scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) in which a probe beam including side robes is formed with an amplitude Fresnel zone plate (FZP) and the interference patterns produced by the zero and first order diffracted waves generated by the FZP are detected. We name it FZP Phase Contrast STEM (FZP-PC-STEM) hereinafter. The amplitude FZP was manufactured by using focused ion beam (FIB) equipment, and the diffraction data were collected by using diffraction imaging technique. The validity of our proposed optical model was confirmed by comparing experimental and simulated images. Observations of carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles by using this method showed that the contrast of low-spatial-frequency components in the CNT image was significantly enhanced. This method does not, in principle, require the post-image processing used in the diffraction imaging method, and it can be easily introduced into pre-existing equipment without major modifications. The stability and robustness of the FZP inserted in condenser system were also confirmed during long-time operation. We expect that the FZP-PC-STEM will be widely applicable to high-contrast observations of low-Z samples with simple and easy operation.

Since the 1990s, the use of X-ray phase contrast has been extensively studied for imaging weakly absorbing objects consisting of low-Z elements such as biological soft tissues and polymers. The development of X-ray microscopy was also progressing during this time, although absorption contrast was only available. It was straightforward and important to develop phase-contrast X-ray microscopy. One characteristic in the development is that quantitative phase measurement is possible through the acquisition of phase-contrast images under a specific procedure, thanks to digital X-ray image detectors. Therefore, such a technique is called 'phase imaging' rather than phase-contrast imaging in this review. Highly sensitive three-dimensional phase imaging is feasible in combination with tomography. This article reviews the progress in X-ray phase imaging, especially with regards to X-ray microscopy.

For the neutron phase imaging with a Talbot-Lau interferometer, we have fabricated neutron absorption gratings with a pitch of 9 μm by oblique evaporation of gadolinium. The performances of these gratings for the phase measurement were experimentally evaluated at RADEN in J-PARC, by observing the neutron transmission and the visibility of moire fringe in the interferometer. A new analysis method using the wavelength-resolved neutron transmission was also attempted to estimate the characteristics of gratings.

Quantitative measurements of the phase shift of X-rays passing through a matter allow us to perform X-ray phase tomography for visualization of soft materials. Combination of an X-ray microscope and a grating interferometer is a promising approach to realize quantitative phase measurements with a microscopic spatial resolution. A Lau interferometer consisting of a source grating and a phase grating is available for this purpose with an incoherent laboratory X-ray source. We installed a Lau interferometer into a laboratory-based X-ray microscope adopting a copper rotating anode source and Fresnel zone plates (ZEISS Xradia 800 Ultra). A “twin-phase image”, which consists of positive and negative phase images overlaid with a certain separation, is generated through a fringe-scanning measurement with this microscope. A step for generating a quantitative phase image from the twin phase image should be developed to perform phase tomography. However, conventional deconvolution operations are not suitable because of artifacts and noise remained in resultant phase images. To reduce the artifacts and noise, an iterative calculation algorithm has been developed. The evaluation of the algorithm shows that the artifacts and noise are suppressed and quantitative phase images are obtained. Finally, results of phase tomography obtained for soft materials are demonstrated.

X-ray phase tomography by Talbot interferometry functions with X-rays of a broad energy band, and a pink- beam extracted by a multilayer mirror from white synchrotron radiation is used for four-dimensional X-ray phase tomography, which was developed at BL28B2, SPring-8, Japan. Polymer samples under infrared laser irradiation were observed as model experiments of laser processing. In this paper, laser ablation for a carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sample is reported. Thanks to the fact that the fibrous structure generates visibility (or dark-field) contrast, four-dimensional tomogram from the visibility reduction is presented. A technical effort to improve the temporal resolution from 1 s to 160 ms is also described.

X-ray phase/dark-field tomography by using an X-ray grating interferometer and white synchrotron radiation has been demonstrated to observe dynamics in materials consisting of light elements, because it is available with X-rays of a broad energy bandwidth. In this work, we combined X-ray phase/dark-field tomography with a stroboscopic technique, which synchronizes image acquisitions with repetitive tension applied to a sample. Snapshot images with a 200 μs temporal resolution are measured to reconstruct phase/dark-field tomograms. A result of stroboscopic X-ray dark-field tomography is described, which was obtained for a rubber sample under a 24 Hz repetitive compression-stretch motion of a 10 mm amplitude.

Four-dimensional phase computed tomography (4D phase CT) by an X-ray Talbot interferometer (XTI) with white synchrotron radiation has ever been demonstrated at a temporal resolution of about 1 s for soft-matter samples. However, the radiation damage to samples caused by white synchrotron radiation occasionally hampers our understanding of the sample dynamical properties. Based on the fact that XTI functions with X-rays of a bandwidth up to ca. 10% with performance comparable to that by monochromatic X-rays, filtering white synchrotron radiation to generate a ‘pink-beam’ of a 10% bandwidth is effective to reduce radiation damage without degrading the image quality and temporal resolution. We have therefore developed pink-beam 4D phase CT at SPring-8, Japan by installing a multilayer mirror with a 10% bandwidth and a 25 keV central photon energy. XTI optimal at this photon energy was built downstream, and a CMOS-based X-ray detector was used to achieve fast image acquisitions with an exposure time of 1 ms (or 0.5 ms) per moiré image. The resultant temporal resolution of pink-beam 4D phase CT was 2 s (1 s). We applied the pink-beam 4D phase CT to in-situ observation of polypropylene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and polycarbonate under infrared laser irradiation (1064 nm). The dynamics of melting, bubbling, and ashing were successfully visualized in 3D movies without problematic radiation damage by synchrotron radiation.

Fringe-analysis methods, with fine carrier fringes, allow us to extract phase signals using a single-shot imaging measurement, enabling real-time observation of dynamic phenomena. However, abrupt phase jumps produced by the structural boundaries (or edges) in an object and/or object surfaces occasionally generate significant errors in the resulting images. In this paper, a new algorithm consisting of two steps is proposed to address this problem. In the first step, we computed an approximate phase map by ignoring abrupt phase jumps. In the second step, we solved a weighted least-squares problem to recover the abrupt phase jumps using the approximate phase map. The influence of several factors, such as carrier-fringe frequency and noise, was examined through simulation and experiment, and the effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated.

Metallic glass (MG) exhibits viscous flow behavior in the supercooled liquid (SCL) state, which is of great advantage for its net-forming process. However, the viscous workability varies strongly with the alloy system and/or composition. In this paper, we demonstrate how MG with less viscous workability such as Gd-based MG can be processed in the SCL region. Based on this understanding, high aspect ratio analyzer gratings of 9 μm pitch and ∼30 μm heights have been fabricated through an imprinting method by allowing crystallization during a rapid heating isochronal imprinting process. The analyzer gratings made of Gd-based MG have brought a breakthrough for advancing neutron phase imaging based on grating interferometer.

An x-ray phase tomographic microscope has been developed by optimizing the optical system for 9-keV synchrotron x rays at BL37XU, SPring-8, Japan. The system consists of a full-field x-ray imaging microscope and a Talbot interferometer. In contrast with our previous system, a Fresnel zone plate for the microscope objective and transmission gratings of the interferometer was designed to improve the refraction sensitivity, with a larger field of view and a higher spatial resolution, utilizing a 28-m space available at BL37XU. An x-ray phase tomographic microscope with a field of view of 375 µm and a spatial resolution of 560 nm was thus constructed, even with a considerably low x-ray dosage. By applying this tomographic microscope to auditory bone specimens of young mice, it was shown that soft tissues in addition to bone tissue could be observed simultaneously without serious radiation damage.

Under the JST-ERATO project in progress to develop X-ray and neutron phase-imaging methods together, recent achievements have been selected and reviewed after describing the merit and the principle of the phase imaging method. For X-ray phase imaging, recent developments of four-dimensional phase tomography and phase microscopy at SPring-8, Japan are mainly presented. For neutron phase imaging, an approach in combination with the time-of-flight method developed at J-PARC, Japan is described with the description of new Gd grating fabrication.

Body composition measurement is of cardinal significance for medical and clinical applications. Currently, the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) technique is widely applied for this measurement. In this study, we present a novel measurement method using the absorption and phase information obtained simultaneously from the X-ray grating-based interferometer (XGI). Rather than requiring two projection data sets with different X-ray energy spectra, with the proposed method, both the areal densities of the bone and the surrounding soft tissue can be acquired utilizing one projection data set. By using a human body phantom constructed to validate the proposed method, experimental results have shown that the compositions can be calculated with an improved accuracy comparing to the dual energy method, especially for the soft tissue measurement. Since the proposed method can be easily implemented on current XGI setup, it will greatly extend the applications of the XGI, and meanwhile has the potential to be an alternative to DEXA for human body composition measurement.

We developed a new method for mineral mapping based on the continuum-removal Modified Spectral Angle Mapper (MSAM) method to distinguish minerals, such as calcite and chlorite, which have diagnostic spectral features in the visible near infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) regions. This method was applied to the reflectance data obtained by HyMap, a hyperspectral airborne sensor with 126 spectral bands (0.44–2.48 μm) in Cuprite, Nevada, USA. Reflectance spectra in the VNIR and SWIR regions are characterized by a convex background (continuum). Continuum-removal processing results in emphasis of the shape and location of absorption peaks in reflectance spectra, and thus in recognition of the chemical species which are causing the absorption spectrum. On the other hand, the broad features in continuum spectra contain essential information for mineral classification as well. Therefore, we produced mineral index maps from both the continuum and continuum-removed images based on the MSAM method and the...

This paper review the configurations of grating-based X-ray interferometry for X-ray phase imaging/tomography and describes recent activities for four-dimensional X-ray phase tomography and nanoscopic X-ray phase tomog- raphy. A multilayer mirror to produce a 10% bandwidth pink beam at 25 keV has been installed at SPring-8 for four-dimensional X-ray phase tomography, and an application to polymer laser ablation is presented. A 100-fold full-field X-ray microscope employing a Fresnel zone plate has been used successfully in combination with a Talbot interferometer to perform nanoscopic phase tomography for a malleal processus brevis of a mouse nine days after birth. Another development using a laboratory-based full-field X-ray microscope in combination with a Lau interferometer is also described.

Talbot interferometer using white synchrotron radiation has been demonstrated for time-resolved X-ray phase imaging and tomography as well as four-dimensional phase tomography to observe dynamics in samples. In this study, X-ray phase tomography has been used to follow the time evolution of phase separation in polymer blend through heating treatment. For this purpose, we performed in-situ X-ray phase imaging and tomography with X-ray Talbot-Lau interferometer using white synchrotron radiation. The X-ray Talbot-Lau interferometer consisted of a source grating (30 μm in period), a π/2 phase grating (4.5 μm in period), an amplitude grating (5.3 μm in period) and a high-speed camera. A polymer blend sample of polystyrene (PS) (Mw = 76,500) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) (Mw = 33,200) was used for the CT observation. A compound of the PS and PMMA was made by a twin-screw kneading extruder and put into an Al tube whose inner diameter was 6 mm. The sample temperature was maintained at desired temperature sequence by controlling a lamp for heating, and CT scans were repeated to track the changes in sample structures at a temporal resolution of 5 seconds. PS-rich phase and PMMA-rich phase changing with time evolution were revealed.

An X-ray phase tomographic microscope that can quantitatively measure the refractive index of a sample in three dimensions with a high spatial resolution was developed by installing a Lau interferometer consisting of an absorption grating and a π/2 phase grating into the optics of an X-ray microscope. The optics comprises a Cu rotating anode X-ray source, capillary condenser optics, and a Fresnel zone plate for the objective. The microscope has two optical modes: a large-field-of-view mode (field of view: 65 μm x 65 μm) and a high-resolution mode (spatial resolution: 50 nm). Optimizing the parameters of the interferometer yields a self-image of the phase grating with ~60% visibility. Through the normal fringe-scanning measurement, a twin phase image, which has an overlap of two phase image of opposite contrast with a shear distance much larger than system resolution, is generated. Although artifacts remain to some extent currently when a phase image is calculated from the twin phase image, this system can obtain high-spatial-resolution images resolving 50-nm structures. Phase tomography with this system has also been demonstrated using a phase object.

The X-ray Talbot interferometry quantitatively measures phase shift of X-rays in a matter and thus, it is a promising technique to observe soft (low-Z) materials. The X-ray multilayer mirror with bandwidth of 0.1 was installed at beamline BL28B2 at SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility to reduce radiation damage delivered to the soft-matter specimen. The X-ray Talbot interferometer was constructed downstream of X-ray multilayer mirror at beamline BL28B2 at SPring-8 facility. The polymer specimens of acrylic glass (PMMA) and poly(propyelene) (PP) were illuminated by high-energy infrared laser beam (λ=1064 nm) operating in continuous-wave (CW) mode and propagation of laser-induced pyrolysis in polymer samples was studied by time-resolved X-ray phase imaging. The pilot experiment included fixed sample position and a movie of differential phase images was recorded during laser irradiation with temporal resolution 50 ms. The measurement of movie of differential phase images was continued by 4D X-ray phase CT which provides dynamical change of 3D distribution of real component of index of refraction δ during laser irradiation [1]. The 4D X-ray phase CT using continuous phase stepping method was performed with temporal resolution 4 s. The reconstruction of CT images revealed that defects have character of conically-shaped voids. The growth of burnt area in PP material proceeds from the center of illuminated area to the sample edges (Figs. 1c-d) while in PMMA material, it proceeds from the margin of illuminated area to its center (Figs. 1a-b).

An X-ray Talbot-Lau interferometer scanning setup consisting of three transmission gratings, a laboratory-based X-ray source that emits X-rays vertically, and an image detector on the top has been developed for the application of X-ray phase imaging to moving objects that cannot be tested clearly with conventional absorption contrast. The grating-based X-ray phase imaging method usually employs a phase-stepping (or fringe-scanning) technique by displacing one of the gratings step-by-step while the object stays still. Since this approach is not compatible with a scanner-type application for moving objects, we have developed a new algorithm for achieving the function of phase-stepping without grating displacement. By analyzing the movie of the moiré pattern as the object moves across the field of view, we obtain the absorption, differential phase, and visibility images. The feasibility of the X-ray phase imaging scanner has been successfully demonstrated for a long sample moving at 5 mm/s. This achievement is a breakthrough for the practical industrial application of X-ray phase imaging for screening objects carried on belt-conveyers such as those in factories.

We present the theoretical description of the image formation with the in-line germanium Bragg Magnifier Microscope (BMM) and the first successful phase retrieval of X-ray holograms recorded with this imaging system. The conditions under which the BMM acts as a linear shift invariant system are theoretically explained and supported by the experiment. Such an approach simplifies the mathematical treatment of the image formation and reconstruction as complicated propagation of the wavefront onto inclined planes can be avoided. Quantitative phase retrieval is demonstrated using a test sample and a proof of concept phase imaging of a spider leg is also presented.