High-resolution computed tomography

An x-ray imaging system comprising:

• an x-ray generator configured to emit an x-ray beam;
• a two-dimensional pixelated area radiation detector having a plane arranged perpendicular to an emission direction of the x-ray beam, wherein a first translation stage and a second translation stage carry the radiation detector, wherein the first and second translation stages are configured to move the radiation detector along translation axes parallel to orientation directions of detector pixels of the radiation detector;
• a rotation stage having a rotation axis perpendicular to the emission direction of the x-ray beam, wherein the rotation stage is disposed between the x-ray generator and the radiation detector, wherein the rotation stage is configured to carry and rotate a sample;
• a linear stage configured to translate the sample linearly along an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the rotation stage, wherein a motion of the rotation stage and a motion of the linear stage are synchronized such that the x-ray beam traces a spiral pattern on the sample;
• and
• an image acquisition system configured to:
• acquire, while the radiation detector is at a first detector position, a first series of radiographs at a plurality of rotation angles of the rotation stage and a plurality of linear stage positions of the linear stage;
• after acquiring the first series of radiographs, acquire, while the radiation detector is at a second detector position, a second series of radiographs at the plurality of rotation angles and the plurality of linear stage positions, wherein the first detector position is separated from the second detector position along one or both the translation axes by a distance less than a linear size of the radiation detector along the respective translation axis;
• generate, based on radiographs in the first series of radiographs and corresponding radiographs in the second series of radiographs, a series of composite radiographs with larger fields of view;
• and
• assemble the generated series of composite radiographs into a 3-dimensional radiograph of the sample.

A method comprising:

• rotating a sample on a rotation stage having a rotation axis perpendicular to an emission direction of an x-ray beam emitted by an x-ray generator;
• translating, on a linear stage, the sample linearly along an axis parallel to a rotation axis of the rotation stage, wherein a motion of the rotation stage and a motion of the linear stage are synchronized such that the x-ray beam traces a spiral pattern on the sample;
• acquiring, while a radiation detector is at a first detector position, a first series of radiographs at a plurality of rotation angles of the rotation stage and a plurality of linear stage positions of the linear stage;
• after acquiring the first series of radiographs, acquire, while the radiation detector is at a second detector position, a second series of radiographs at the plurality of rotation angles and the plurality of linear stage positions the second detector position being separated from the first detector position along either or both a first or a second translation axis parallel to orientation directions of detector pixels of the radiation detector, the first and second detector positions separated by a distance finer than a pixel size of the radiation detector, wherein a first translation stage and a second translation stage carry the radiation detector, wherein the first and second translation stages are configured to move the radiation detector along the first and second translation axes;
• generating, based on radiographs in the first series of radiographs and corresponding radiographs in the second series of radiographs, a set of higher-resolution radiographs, wherein the higher-resolution radiographs have higher resolution than the radiographs in the first and second series of radiographs;
• and
• assembling the higher-resolution radiographs into a 3-dimensional radiograph of the sample.

A method comprising:

• rotating a sample on a rotation stage having a rotation axis perpendicular to an emission direction of an x-ray beam emitted by an x-ray generator;
• translating, on a linear stage, the sample linearly along an axis parallel to a rotation axis of the rotation stage, wherein a motion of the rotation stage and a motion of the linear stage are synchronized such that the x-ray beam traces a spiral pattern on the sample;
• acquiring, while a radiation detector is at a first detector position, a first series of radiographs at a plurality of rotation angles of the rotation stage and a plurality of linear stage positions of the linear stage;
• after acquiring the first series of radiographs, acquiring, while the radiation detector is at a second detector position, a second series of radiographs at the plurality of rotation angles and the plurality of linear stage positions, wherein the first and second detector positions are different detector positions along a first or a second translation axis parallel to orientation directions of detector pixels of the radiation detector, the first and second detector positions separated by a distance less than a linear size of the radiation detector along the first translation axis or the second translation axis, respectively,
• wherein the radiation detector has a plane arranged perpendicular to an emission direction of the x-ray beam emitted by the x-ray generator, a first translation stage and a second translation stage carry the radiation detector, and the first and second translation stages are configured to move the radiation detector along the first and second translation axes;
• generating, based on radiographs in the first series of radiographs and corresponding radiographs in the second series of radiographs, a series of composite radiographs with larger fields of view;
• and
• assembling the generated series of composite radiographs into a 3-dimensional radiograph of the sample.

A non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing system to:

• rotate a sample on a rotation stage having a rotation axis perpendicular to an emission direction of an x-ray beam emitted by an x-ray generator;
• translate, on a linear stage, the sample linearly along an axis parallel to a rotation axis of the rotation stage, wherein a motion of the rotation stage and a motion of the linear stage are synchronized such that the x-ray beam traces a spiral pattern on the sample;
• acquire, while a radiation detector is at a first detector position, a first series of radiographs at a plurality of rotation angles of the rotation stage and a plurality linear stage positions of the linear stage;
• after acquiring the first series of radiographs, acquire, while the radiation detector is at a second detector position, a second series of radiographs at the plurality of rotation angles of the rotation stage and the plurality of linear stage positions, the second detector position being separated from the first detector position along either or both first translation axis or a second translation axis parallel to orientation directions of detector pixels of the radiation detector, the first and second detector positions separated by a distance finer than a pixel size of the radiation detector, wherein a first translation stage and a second translation stage carry the radiation detector, wherein the first and second translation stages are configured to move the radiation detector along the first and second translation axes;
• generate, based on radiographs in the first series of radiographs and corresponding radiographs in the second series of radiographs, a set of higher-resolution radiographs, wherein the higher-resolution radiographs have higher resolution than the radiographs in the first and second series of radiographs;
• and
• assemble the higher-resolution radiographs into a 3-dimensional radiograph of the sample.

A non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing system to:

• rotate a sample on a rotation stage having a rotation axis perpendicular to an emission direction of an x-ray beam emitted by an x-ray generator;
• translate, on a linear stage, the sample linearly along an axis parallel to a rotation axis of the rotation stage, wherein a motion of the rotation stage and a motion of the linear stage are synchronized such that the x-ray beam traces a spiral pattern on the sample;
• acquire, while a radiation detector is at a first detector position, a first series of radiographs at a plurality of rotation angles of the rotation stage and a plurality of linear stage positions of the linear stage;
• after acquiring the first series of radiographs, acquire, while the radiation detector is at a second detector position, a second series of radiographs at the plurality of rotation angles and the plurality of linear stage positions, wherein the second detector position are different detector positions along a first translation axis or a second translation axis parallel to orientation directions of detector pixels of the radiation detector, the first and second detector positions separated by a distance less than a linear size of the radiation detector along the first translation axis or the second translation axis, respectively,
• wherein the radiation detector has a plane arranged perpendicular to an emission direction of the x-ray beam emitted by the x-ray generator, a first translation stage and a second translation stage carry the radiation detector, and the first and second translation stages are configured to move the radiation detector along the first and second translation axes;
• and
• generate, based on radiographs in the first series of radiographs and corresponding radiographs in the second series of radiographs, a series of composite radiographs with larger fields of view;
• and
• assemble the generated series of composite radiographs into a 3-dimensional radiograph of the sample.