Helpfulness of effective atomic number image in forensic dental identification: Photon-counting computed tomography is suitable.

The identities of unidentified persons are often confirmed by matching dental treatment information. Although treatment restorations consisting of artificial materials can be confirmed visually and/or by X-ray photography, they should be quantitatively analyzed. This study demonstrates that effective atomic number (Z) images can be created using photon-counting computed tomography (PC-CT) and used to identify artificial materials employed in dentistry.

Performance of elastic x-ray shield made by embedding Bi O particles in porous polyurethane.

Background: Many healthcare institutions have guidelines concerning the usage of protective procedures, and various x-ray shields have been used to reduce unwanted radiation exposure to medical staff and patients when using x-rays. Most x-ray shields are in the form of sheets and lack elasticity, which limits their effectiveness in shielding areas with movement, such as the thyroid. To overcome this limitation, we have developed an innovative elastic x-ray shield.

Effective atomic number image determination with an energy-resolving photon-counting detector using polychromatic X-ray attenuation by correcting for the beam hardening effect and detector response.

In this study, we propose an effective atomic number (Z) determination method based on a photon-counting technique. The proposed method can correct for the beam hardening effect and detector response based on polychromatic X-rays to allow high accuracy material identification. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, the procedure was applied to X-ray images acquired by a prototype energy-resolving photon-counting detector and we obtained an Z image with accuracy of Z ± 0.