Photon counting CT at elevated X-ray tube currents: contrast stability, image noise and multi-energy performance

S. Kappler; A. Henning; B. Kreisler; F. Schoeck; K. Stierstorfer; T. Flohr

doi:10.1117/12.2043511

19 March 2014 Photon counting CT at elevated X-ray tube currents: contrast stability, image noise and multi-energy performance

S. Kappler, A. Henning, B. Kreisler, F. Schoeck, K. Stierstorfer, T. Flohr

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9033, Medical Imaging 2014: Physics of Medical Imaging; 90331C (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2043511
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2014, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The energy-selectivity of photon counting detectors provides contrast enhancement and enables new material-identification techniques for clinical Computed Tomography (CT). Patient dose considerations and the resulting requirement of efficient X-ray detection suggest the use of CdTe or CdZnTe as detector material. The finite signal pulse duration of several nanoseconds present in those detectors requires strong reduction of the pixel size to achieve feasible count rates in the high-flux regime of modern CT scanners. Residual pulse pile-up effects in scans with high X-ray fluxes still can limit two key properties of the counting detector, namely count-rate linearity and spectral linearity. We have used our research prototype scanner with CdTe-based counting detector and 225μm small pixels to investigate these effects in CT imaging scenarios at elevated X-ray tube currents. We present measurements of CT images and provide a detailed analysis of contrast stability, image noise and multi-energy performance achieved with different phantom sizes at various X-ray tube settings.

Citation Download Citation

S. Kappler, A. Henning, B. Kreisler, F. Schoeck, K. Stierstorfer, and T. Flohr "Photon counting CT at elevated X-ray tube currents: contrast stability, image noise and multi-energy performance", Proc. SPIE 9033, Medical Imaging 2014: Physics of Medical Imaging, 90331C (19 March 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2043511

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available