Patent Document ID: 9402593
Application ID: 13195201
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method comprising: inserting a contrast agent comprising objects into a blood vessel of a body, the objects having refractive indices different from the refractive index of blood with respect to a penetrating radiation having a wavelength of 1 nm or less, the difference in refractive indices being sufficient to provide visible edge enhancement features in images of the objects in blood vessels that contain the objects in which the images are obtained using the penetrating radiation, the edge enhancement features being caused by refraction of the penetrating radiation at boundaries of the objects; placing the body on a stage wherein the stage is positioned between a penetrating radiation source and a detector; irradiating the body including the blood vessel with the penetrating radiation having the wavelength of 1 nm or less, causing refraction of the penetrating radiation at the boundaries of the objects, generating edge enhancement features that include at least one of brighter or darker fringes; adjusting a position of the body via the stage relative to the detector by moving the body from a first distance relative to the detector to a second distance relative to the detector, in which when the body is at the first distance relative to the detector, the edge enhancement features are less visible, and when the body is at the second distance relative to the detector, the edge enhancement features are more visible, to cause the at least one of brighter or darker fringes produced by the refraction of the penetrating radiation occurring at the boundaries of the objects that are inserted into the blood vessel to be detected by the detector; and generating an image of the objects with the blood vessels based on the detected radiation, the image including edge enhancement features that indicate the boundaries of the objects, in which the edge enhancement features are generated based on the refraction of the penetrating radiation at the boundaries of the objects.