Lumbar disc disease
In symptomatic cases the diagnosis should be confirmed by an MRI scan. However, in cases with slight symptoms, a faster and cheaper CT scan (although it is inferior to MRI scan) may be recommended. While a CT scan can show the bony structures in more detail, an MRI scan can better portray soft tissue.
Phase-contrast X-ray imaging
Due to its high sensitivity to small changes in the refraction index this method is well suited to image soft tissue samples and is already implemented to medical imaging, especially in Mammography for a better detection of microcalcifications and in bone cartilage studies.