Patent ID: 6594335
Filing Date: 2003-07-15
Classification: A61B,G01N,G21K

Abstract:
The method for creating an in vivo x-ray image of the interior of an illuminated object, where the illuminated object induces x-ray absorption and/or detectable x-ray refraction, an induced deviation in the direction of the incident x-ray beam;wherein the in vivo x-ray imaging method utilizes an illuminating x-ray source, that is a microscopically-thin x-ray line-source comprising a laser-produced plasma generated by optically focusing a high power femtosecond-pulsed terawatt laserbeam, onto a molybdenum or higher atomic number metal target; where, in the plane of the target, the plasma x-ray spatial line-source dimension, microscopic in width only, is 50 microns across or less in only one direction in the plane of the target; further, where in the plane of the target, the plasma x-ray spatial line-source length dimension, in the direction perpendicular to the microscopic width direction, is greater than one centimeter long; the spatial x-ray line-source width is specified as vertical in the plane of the target and the spatial x-ray line-source length is specified as horizontal in the plane of the target; using laser-produced photons in the visible or infrared wavelengths that are reflected off of an off-axis aspherical mirror or dual mirror assembly and optically line-focused into a microscopically-thin collision upon the molybdenum or higher atomic number metal target; yielding plasma-generated hard x-rays in the 15 KeV-to-100 KeV range; using either a single mirror or a dual mirror assembly that has an off-axis parabolic primary reflective surface followed by a cylindrical reflective surface, for focusing a visible wavelength or infrared cylindrically-shaped laser beam having an initial circular cross-section into a spatial line-focus upon the target.