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Victoria Bela

Chinese scientists have developed a new tabletop X-ray ghost imaging method that allows them to capture real-time “see-through” video of fast-moving objects.
The team’s system could be used to capture dynamic objects such as rotating aircraft engines or biological movements like a beating heart.
Importantly, this could all be accomplished with a lower radiation dose and simpler set-up than traditional X-ray methods.
“In contrast to other available X-ray imaging techniques for moving objects, our method can be implemented with a conventional tabletop X-ray source,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Physics on August 15.
“The set-up is simple, relatively inexpensive and easy to operate.”
The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiao Tong University said their method had “great potential” for medical imaging as well as non-destructive imaging of moving mechanical components.
Despite its vital uses in medicine, crystallography and material inspection, conventional tabletop X-ray imaging has operational trade-offs that limit its application to static objects.


Conventional X-ray works by shooting radiation through an object, which different structures and materials absorb to varying degrees. The X-rays are then captured by a detector or film on the other side, producing a direct image of the object.
X-ray ghost imaging is an indirect technique where an object is lit with X-rays that pass through a patterned filter. These are then measured by a single-pixel detector that picks up on the total intensity of light that reaches it.
A computer compares the intensity received by the detector against the known patterns to piece together a final image, according to a news report by the journal Science.
This method has emerged as a field of interest because it can achieve imaging at lower radiation doses than conventional X-ray, which could make it safer as well as ideal for long-term or dynamic imaging.
Existing X-ray ghost imaging methods face significant challenges due to the very long total acquisition times required to capture an image, making them impractical for real-world applications, the Chinese team said.
This is because ghost imaging typically relies on changing the patterned filter after each exposure to reconstruct the final image.
To overcome this challenge, the Chinese team’s method uses a spinning filter or mask with tiny patterns that rapidly change as it rotates, enabling faster image acquisition.

“Our method has greatly improved the [X-ray ghost imaging] speed and paves the way for X-ray imaging applications of [moving] objects, such as the inspection of rotating aero-engines and in vivo medical imaging,” the team said.
Their new method for two-dimensional high-resolution X-ray ghost imaging of moving objects allowed for a rate of up to 200 frames per second.
The team tested their system on a spinning copper disk with letters stencilled onto it. Their ghost imaging system was able to accurately image the letters, though the quality degraded as the disk spun faster.
When compared with a traditional X-ray camera, their system produced images of lower quality overall but was able to continuously record the full motion of the moving letters.
The traditional cameras captured sharper images when the letters were stationary, but suffered from motion blur and frame gaps during movement, leading to distorted or incomplete letters.
The imaging speed of the ghost approach is mainly limited by the rotation speed of the spinning mask and the sampling frequency of the detection system. The team said improving both could lead to better and faster imaging.
“Notably, our proposed method is not limited to any wavelength but would be particularly suitable for situations where array cameras are cumbersome, extremely expensive and difficult to maintain,” the team said.
The peer-reviewed paper was shared online by the journal ahead of final editing to give faster access to the findings.


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Tabletop imaging camera can capture ‘see-through’ medical videos of beating hearts using a lower radiation dose than traditional methods


Tabletop imaging camera can capture ‘see-through’ medical videos of beating hearts using a lower radiation dose than traditional methods.


Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

China team brings X-ray vision to life with a compact high-speed ghost video cam

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tabletop imaging camera can capture ‘see-through’ medical videos of beating hearts using a lower radiation dose than traditional methods

Tabletop imaging camera can capture ‘see-through’ medical videos of beating hearts using a lower radiation dose than traditional methods