Crystal optics simulations for delineation of the three-dimensional cellular nuclear distribution using analyzer-based refraction-contrast computed tomography

Abstract Refraction-contrast computed tomography (RCT) using a refractive angle analyzer of Si perfect crystal can reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of biological soft tissue with contrast comparable to that of stained two-dimensional pathological images. However, the blurring of X-ray beam by the analyzer has prevented improvement of the spatial resolution of RCT, and the currently possible observation of tissue structure at a scale of approximately 20 µm provides only limited medical information. As in pathology, to differentiate between benign and malignant forms of cancer, it is necessary to observe the distribution of the cell nucleus, which is approximately 5–10 µm in diameter. In this study, based on the X-ray dynamical diffraction theory using the Takagi–Taupin equation, which calculates the propagation of X-ray energy in crystals, an analyzer crystal optical system depicting the distribution of cell nuclei was investigated by RCT imaging simulation experiments in terms of the thickness of the Laue-case analyzer, the camera pixel size and the difference in spatial resolution between the Bragg-case and Laue-case analyzers.