MPBE Lunchtime Seminar presented by Marco Endrizzi

Join us for February's Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering Lunchtime Seminar, presented by Dr Marco Endrizzi. The topic will be: 'X-ray dark-field imaging'.

Abstract

X-ray imaging is a standard tool for non-destructive visualization of the inner structure of samples. It finds application in a range of fields, including medicine, biology, engineering, paleontology, and security. The image formation principle of conventional radiography has remained the same for well over a century: the different amount of absorption experienced by the radiation traversing the sample generates image contrast. By means of phase-sensitive techniques, it is possible to detect the phase shifts imparted by the sample to the beam, and to extend the capabilities of X-ray imaging to those details that lack enough absorption contrast to be visualized in conventional radiography.

A conventional imaging system, like the camera of a smart phone or the human eye, is typically sensitive only to amplitude and the information encoded in the phase is lost. In a phase-contrast imaging system, perturbations of the phase also contribute to the modulation of the intensity and can be detected, analysed, and interpreted. So far, the tremendous potential of these techniques in the hard X-ray regime has been studied and established mainly by means of highly specialized facilities. The latest developments of my research are directed towards pushing the limits of what is achievable with these techniques while also developing simple and reliable imaging tools. While exploratory arrangements and ideas are being tested with synchrotron radiation, practical and compact solutions are being developed in synergy with industry.

Bio

I graduated in Applied Physics from the University of Pisa in 2008. I then continued my studies with a PhD in Physics on the X-ray imaging application of inverse Compton scattering X-ray sources. In 2012, I joined Prof. Sandro Olivo’s group at UCL for my first post-doc, working on laboratory-based methods for X-ray phase-contrast imaging. I then secured a Marie Curie CIG that allowed me to pursue the first developments of my research, mainly focused around high-resolution and X-ray dark-field imaging. I am currently supported by a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship and beginning to grow my own research group.