Measurement of enhanced vasa vasorum density in a porcine carotid model using photon counting detector CT.

Purpose: The onset of atherosclerosis is preceded by changes in blood perfusion within the arterial wall due to localized proliferation of the vasa vasorum. The purpose of this study was to quantify these changes in spatial density of the vasa vasorum using a research whole-body photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT) scanner and a porcine model.

Approach: Vasa vasorum angiogenesis was stimulated in the left carotid artery wall of anesthetized pigs ( ) while the right carotid served as a control.

Overcoming calcium blooming and improving the quantification accuracy of percent area luminal stenosis by material decomposition of multi-energy computed tomography datasets.

Conventional stenosis quantification from single-energy computed tomography (SECT) images relies on segmentation of lumen boundaries, which suffers from partial volume averaging and calcium blooming effects. We present and evaluate a method for quantifying percent area stenosis using multienergy CT (MECT) images. We utilize material decomposition of MECT images to measure stenosis based on the ratio of iodine mass between vessel locations with and without a stenosis, thereby eliminating the requirement for segmentation of iodinated lumen.

A Blooming correction technique for improved vasa vasorum detection using an ultra-high-resolution photon-counting detector CT.

Proliferation of vasa vasorum, the microvasculature within artery walls, is an early marker of atherosclerosis. Detection of subtle changes in the spatial density of vasa vasorum using contrast-enhanced CT is challenging due to the limited spatial resolution and blooming effects. We report a forward model-based blooming correction technique to improve vasa vasorum detection in a porcine model imaged using an ultra-high resolution photon-counting detector CT.

Evaluation of a photon counting Medipix3RX cadmium zinc telluride spectral x-ray detector.

We assess the performance of a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT)-based Medipix3RX energy-resolving and photon-counting x-ray detector as a candidate for spectral microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) imaging. It features an array of , pixels, each with four simultaneous threshold counters that utilize real-time charge summing. Each pixel's response is assessed by imaging with a range of incident x-ray intensities and detector integration times.