Simulation of a table-top analyzer based phase contrast imaging system

Analyzer-based imaging (ABI) belongs to a broader family of phase-contrast (PC) X-ray imaging modalities. Unlike the conventional X-ray radiography, which measures only X-ray absorption, in PC imaging one can also measure the X-rays refraction and scatter properties of the imaged object. It has been shown that refraction imaging provide a better contrast when imaging the soft tissue than the traditional absorption-contrast modalities. In this paper, we introduce a simulation tool specifically designed to simulate the ABI systems with a conventional polychromatic X-ray source. By utilizing the ray tracing and physical principles of ideal crystals diffraction theory our simulation tool can predict the ABI X-ray beam: spatial profile, energy and angular spectrum and total throughput (photon count) at the detector. In addition, we can incorporate objects simulations that allow us to assess the image quality achieved for the different imaging system setups. Using this approach, we demonstrate a novel method to image using two K-alpha emission lines of a tungsten X-ray source.