The portable synchrotron “MIRRORCLE‐6X” provides hard x‐rays with high brightness and wide energy spectrum ranging from 10–300 keV, emitted from a micron‐sized source, with wide divergence of ± 85 mrad. Correspondingly, images obtained using the “MIRRORCLE‐6X” showed significantly improved characteristics compared to conventional x‐ray tube images, namely, improved refraction contrast, high resolution, and high magnification. Thus, the “MIRRORCLE‐6X” is considered to be a novel medical imaging source.
A magnified image of a chest phantom, wherein a urethane ball of 8 mm diameter was implanted as an imitation of a cancer, was obtained. The detector used was an imaging‐plate (Fujifilm imaging plate, FCR ST‐IV) with 150 μm pixel size. The phantom and the detector were respectively set at 50 cm and 540 cm from the x‐ray source, so that the magnification was 10.8x. The x‐ray source was a Cu 25 μm rod. The resolution was about 25 μm. Images with such high resolution and magnification cannot be obtained by conventional x‐ray tubes with a source size of mm order. We can see the edges of costae and of the urethane ball at the back of the costae by the refraction contrast effect. Furthermore, we also see blood vessels surrounding the urethane ball. White spots, which are cross sections of blood vessels, were also observed. Therefore, observations of the shape of a cancer without surgical resection should be possible, and accurate diagnosis can be given using the “MIRRORCLE‐6X”.
