Medical phase contrast x-ray imaging with laser plasma accelerator
Cancer detection at an early stage is crucial for subsequent therapy success. To achieve this goal, an effective screening should rely on a specific tool that should be not only non-invasive but also adaptable to patients and their diseases. Widely used nowadays, X-Ray imaging (RX) is a well-established cancer screening technique. However, it poses major problems of (i) detection of tumours at early stages when they are small and of low contrast, (ii) dose deposition in a body, especially for frequent and long term monitoring and (iii) energy tunability of the X-ray source to optimize the imaging. The project XMED aims at tackling simultaneously these three strong limitations, and to come out within 18 months with a demonstrator. For this purpose the most advanced electron beams produced by laser plasma accelerators will be use to radiate a bright, tunable X ray beam using the recent all optical Compton scheme.