X-rays can be found everywhere from the hospital to airport security. Up until now, it’s been a useful tool for detecting broken bones or hidden objects in suitcases…but it may soon be possible to see more.
Franz Pfeiffer is a physicist with the Paul Scherrer Institute in the canton of Aargau and an assistant professor at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Normally his team focuses on developing new tools dealing with costly, sophisticated sources of energy. But they’ve realized that their work can also be used to improve conventional x-rays.

FRANZ PFEIFFER: “By analyzing the transmitted X-rays more precisely by a set of filters, we found a way to say something more about the internal structure. So we can say if the bone is more porous or more rigid, homogenous, and that might be very important for future clinical applications.”

The technology involves using especially fine filters created with the help of nano-technology, which is used to manipulate the smallest of particles. Unlike regular X-rays, this new generation can detect minute details, such as the texture of a bone, or the difference between cheese and powdered substances. And according to Pfeiffer, it’s inexpensive.

PFEIFFER: “With our grid, so these nano-structure grids which can just very simply be produced by standard photo-lithography, which also produces chips in your computers, this can be made very cost-effective and you can certainly transfer it into practical applications very easily.”

Since the filters can be used with many different X-ray sources, the range of applications is enormous. Everything from checking corrosion of airplane wings to exploring soft-tissue in cancer patients may be possible. And Pfeiffer says that there still more to be investigated with this technology. The study was published yesterday in the scientific journal Nature Materials.

Report was prepared by Amy Wong and voiced by Nicki Chadwick.

Topics: science