Quantitative dual-energy micro-CT with a photon-counting detector for material science and non-destructive testing.

The recent progress in photon-counting detector technology using high-Z semiconductor sensors provides new possibilities for spectral x-ray imaging. The benefits of the approach to extract spectral information directly from measurements in the projection domain are very advantageous for material science studies with x-rays as polychromatic artifacts like beam-hardening are handled properly. Since related methods require accurate knowledge of all energy-dependent system parameters, we utilize an adapted semi-empirical model, which relies on a simple calibration procedure.

Perfusion-ventilation CT via three-material differentiation in dual-layer CT: a feasibility study.

Dual-Energy Computed Tomography is of significant clinical interest due to the possibility of material differentiation and quantification. In current clinical routine, primarily two materials are differentiated, e.g.

Differentiation between blood and iodine in a bovine brain-Initial experience with Spectral Photon-Counting Computed Tomography (SPCCT).

Objectives: To evaluate the accuracy of Spectral Photon-Counting Computed Tomography (SPCCT) in the quantification of iodine concentrations and its potential for the differentiation between blood and iodine.

Methods: Tubes with blood and a concentration series of iodine were scanned with a preclinical SPCCT system (both in vitro and in an ex vivo bovine brain tissue sample). Iodine density maps (IDM) and virtual non-contrast (VNC) images were generated using the multi-bin spectral information to perform material decomposition.

Evaluation of a preclinical photon-counting CT prototype for pulmonary imaging.

The purpose of this study was to investigate a preclinical spectral photon-counting CT (SPCCT) prototype compared to conventional CT for pulmonary imaging. A custom-made lung phantom, including nodules of different sizes and shapes, was scanned with a preclinical SPCCT and a conventional CT in standard and high-resolution (HR-CT) mode. Volume estimation was evaluated by linear regression.

Dual-layer spectral computed tomography: measuring relative electron density.

Background: X-ray and particle radiation therapy planning requires accurate estimation of local electron density within the patient body to calculate dose delivery to tumour regions. We evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of electron density measurement using dual-layer computed tomography (DLCT), a recently introduced dual-energy CT technique.

Methods: Two calibration phantoms were scanned with DLCT and virtual monoenergetic images (VMIs) at 50 keV and 200 keV were generated.