Single-mask phase imaging micro-computed tomography with multi-contrast images and single-shot per projection angle

X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI) holds immense promise for enhancing contrast and visibility in medical imaging, as it harnesses the phase information within X-ray wavefront to reveal intricate structures within soft tissues. Among the diverse techniques available for x-ray phase contrast imaging, the single-mask phase contrast imaging method stands out for its notable benefits: heightened contrast levels, minimal system complexity demands, and the capacity to extract multi-modal information within a single shot. In this study, we introduce an X-ray phase contrast tomography system designed to deliver exceptional contrast for soft materials, along with the unique capability to retrieve absorption, differential phase, and phase images in a single shot per projection angle. Notably, our imaging setup circumvents the necessity for a highly coherent x-ray source, an ultra-high-resolution detector, or intricately fabricated x-ray gratings. Moreover, it exhibits substantial resilience towards alignment discrepancies and mechanical vibrations, contributing to its robust performance. While the methods would translate to all CT systems with the mask design available, we demonstrate our results in a benchtop system suitable for micro CT type imaging.