Towards in-vivo X-ray nanoscopy: The effect of motion on image quality

Abstract

Novel X-Ray Microscopy (XRM) systems allow to study the internal structure of a specimen on nanoscale. A possible use of this non-destructive technology is motivated in the medical research area. In-Vivo investigation of medication over a period of time and its effects on perfusion and bony structure might lead to a better understanding of drug mechanisms and diseases like Osteoporosis and could lead to new approaches to their treatment. The first step towards in-vivo XRM imaging is to investigate the suitability of recent XRM systems for this task and subsequently to determine the system parameters. In this context, the impact of mice motion on the image quality is studied in this work. This paper aims to simulate the effects of breathing motion and muscle relaxation of the mice on the reconstructed images, which already effects the projection images. We therefore assume a mouse’s respiration motion pattern, which happens four time during a single projection acquisitions, and the muscle relaxation movement due to anesthesia and simulate its impacts on image quality. Additionally, we show that a frame rate of at least 16 fps is needed to capture in-vivo movements in order to apply state-of-the-art motion correction methods.