Physical density estimations of single- and dual-energy CT using material-based forward projection algorithm: a simulation study.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of physical density prediction in single-energy CT (SECT) and dual-energy CT (DECT) by adapting a fully simulation-based method using a material-based forward projection algorithm (MBFPA).

Methods: We used biological tissues referenced in ICRU Report 44 and tissue substitutes to prepare three different types of phantoms for calibrating the Hounsfield unit (HU)-to-density curves. Sinograms were first virtually generated by the MBFPA with four representative energy spectra ( 80 kVp, 100 kVp, 120 kVp, and 6 MVp) and then reconstructed to form realistic CT images by adding statistical noise. The HU-to-density curves in each spectrum and their pairwise combinations were derived from the CT images. The accuracy of these curves was validated using the ICRP110 human phantoms.

Results: The relative mean square errors (RMSEs) of the physical density by the HU-to-density curves calibrated with kV SECT nearly presented no phantom size dependence. The kV-kV DECT calibrated curves were also comparable with those from the kV SECT. The phantom size effect became notable when the MV X-ray beams were employed for both SECT and DECT due to beam-hardening effects. The RMSEs were decreased using the biological tissue phantom.

Conclusion: Simulation-based density prediction can be useful in the theoretical analysis of SECT and DECT calibrations. The results of this study indicated that the accuracy of SECT calibration is comparable with that of DECT using biological tissues. The size and shape of the calibration phantom could affect the accuracy, especially for MV CT calibrations.

Advances In Knowledge: The present study is based on a full simulation environment, which accommodates various situations such as SECT, kV-kV DECT, and even kV-MV DECT. In this paper, we presented the advances pertaining to the accuracy of the physical density prediction when applied to SECT and DECT in the MV X-ray energy range. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to validate the physical density estimation both in SECT and DECT using human-type phantoms.