Two aspects of phase-contrast imaging (PCI) endow it with the potential to revolutionise modern X-ray-based diagnostics. Firstly, it may allow enhancing soft-tissue contrast – one major barrier in X-ray-based computer tomography (CT) imaging today. Secondly, it may allow a significant reduction of diagnostic radiation dose to which patients are exposed – a growing problem in ageing western societies. In the initial funding period, we were able to demonstrate the feasibility of phase-contrast imaging to depict diagnostically relevant detail of osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage and characterise structural aspects of cancerous breast tissue in an experimental set-up in vitro. Given technological developments within the cluster we now propose to advance these two applications to a preclinical stage and to further determine the potential diagnostic value of phase-contrast imaging in other major clinical settings. Our overarching aim is to identify clinical scenarios in which PCI can improve patient management. There is a narrow window of opportunity to cooperatively develop and implement a technique which will provide high soft-tissue resolution and unique tissue characterisation at decreased radiation burden. Such a technique will revolutionise patient care for various disease states. Thus, the major objectives for the application period 2012-2017 are to advance the technique from in vitro experiments to a preclinical, in vivo animal setting to identify other potential clinical indications and to help the technical developers to optimise the technique for clinical applications.

Our long-term goals and visions
Our long-term vision is to establish phase-contrast imaging as a novel imaging technique in clinical practice to improve the diagnostic care of patients with various disease states. We hypothesise that PCI will allow for better tissue characterisation at lower radiation exposure and therefore overcome two major limitations of currently available medical imaging modalities.