'Dark field' X-rays reveal bodies in new detail

No question here on the quality, but not ready for prime time use yet...BD

A set of simple silicon filters could dramatically improve the quality of X-ray images produced in hospitals and at airport checkpoints. The team adapted a technique known as dark-field microscopy, which is normally used by biologists to get a clearer view of cells under a light microscope.
The technique provides a more detailed picture of fractured bone and could help airport security scanners distinguish plastic explosives from harmless substances. Although the process means exposing the subject to a higher total dose of radiation, Pfeiffer says this can be justified in some circumstances.
X-ray images normally reveal the way different materials, including body tissue, absorb X-ray radiation. Strongly absorbing areas are white and weakly absorbing ones black. But finer details are often lost in a fog caused by areas with intermediate radiation-absorbing ability. The technique is not yet ready for deployment in hospitals as it only works with relatively low-intensity X-rays.