China team brings X-ray vision to life with a compact high-speed ghost video cam

Chinese scientists have developed a new tabletop X-ray ghost imaging method that allows them to capture real-time “see-through” video of fast-moving objects.

The team’s system could be used to capture dynamic objects such as rotating aircraft engines or biological movements like a beating heart.

Importantly, this could all be accomplished with a lower radiation dose and simpler set-up than traditional X-ray methods.

“In contrast to other available X-ray imaging techniques for moving objects, our method can be implemented with a conventional tabletop X-ray source,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Physics on August 15.

“The set-up is simple, relatively inexpensive and easy to operate.”

The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiao Tong University said their method had “great potential” for medical imaging as well as non-destructive imaging of moving mechanical components.