Multi-energy CT with Energy-integrating Detector

1项目概要/摘要 2同时对多种造影剂进行成像的能力可能极大地有利于许多肿瘤的诊断。 3腹部和心血管疾病。有前景的临床应用包括但不限于， 4动脉粥样硬化斑块成分的表征;动脉和静脉血管的区分; 5、肠腔与肠壁的分离;能量积分 基于6个探测器（EID）的双能量CT（DECT）可实现材料特异性成像， 7的成功，但它不能执行多种造影剂的准确和稳定的成像。 8多能量CT（MECT），具有2个以上的X射线束测量值，目前处于活动状态 9调查，能量分辨光子计数CT（PCCT）作为一种方法， 10 MECT.然而，PCCT有两个主要局限性。首先，PCCT探测器可能产生严重失真的光谱， 11信息，由于许多非理想的影响，这显着降低其性能。更正这些 12非理想效应仍然是有前途的研究课题，但尚未在PCCT系统上实现 13、能进行临床成像。其次，由于缺乏大规模生产，PCCT与非常高的成本相关 14技术由于这些局限性，PCCT在常规临床中优于传统的基于EID的CT 15实践尚未显示，尽管在这一领域进行了许多积极的研究。 在这个探索性的项目中，我们将测试一种基于EID的MECT方法，用于成像多重对比 17个特工在该方法中，将分裂滤波器应用于双源CT的1个或2个X射线源，使得3个或2个X射线源被分离。 可以几乎同时进行4个唯一的X射线束测量。这是一个更具成本效益的 19替代PCCT，具有潜在的可比性或改进的MECT性能。具体目标是： 20（1）通过使用计算机模拟确定基于EID的MECT中的最佳管能量和光束过滤器。一 还将模拟21例全身PCCT，以比较其与基于EID的MECT技术的性能。 22（2）在双源扫描仪上实施基于EID的MECT技术，并进行体模和试验 23动物实验将使用多种对比材料的造影剂来测试新的MECT系统， 24现有的全身PCCT扫描仪。还将在两种系统上进行使用猪的试验性动物研究 25以验证开发的基于EID的MECT技术在体内，重点是两个腹部应用。 26.本提案的创新之处在于，它将是第一个在一个电子设备上实施基于EID的MECT技术。 27临床扫描仪，这可能很容易成为一个早期的临床平台，用于多种材料的特定成像 28种造影剂。本研究具有重要意义，因为基于EID和PCCT之间的比较- 基于29的方法可能重新定义当前研究的方向，以实现临床MECT。很长的- 该项目的30个长期目标是开发一种准确，可靠和具有成本效益的方法来成像多个 31种造影剂同时使用，并探讨MECT的各种临床应用。

1 PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT 2 The ability to image multiple contrast agents simultaneously may greatly benefit the diagnosis of many 3 abdominal and cardiovascular diseases. Promising clinical applications include, but are not limited to, 4 characterization of atherosclerotic plaque composition; differentiation of arterial and venous vasculature; 5 separation of the bowel lumen and wall; and multi-phase imaging in one-single scan. Energy integrating 6 detector (EID)-based dual-energy CT (DECT) enables material-specific imaging and has achieved great 7 success over the past decade, but it cannot perform accurate and stable imaging for multiple contrast agents. 8 Multi-energy CT (MECT) with more than 2 x-ray beam measurements is currently under active 9 investigation, and energy-resolved photon-counting CT (PCCT) has received much attention as an approach to 10 MECT. However, PCCT has 2 major limitations. First, PCCT detectors may produce severely distorted spectral 11 information due to many non-ideal effects, which significantly degrades their performance. Corrections of these 12 non-ideal effects remain promising research topics but have not yet been implemented on a PCCT system 13 capable of clinical imaging. Second, PCCT is associated with very high cost due to lack of mass production 14 techniques. Because of these limitations, the benefit of PCCT over traditional EID-based CT in routine clinical 15 practice has not yet been shown, despite much active research in this area. 16 In this exploratory project, we will test an EID-based approach to MECT for imaging multiple contrast 17 agents. In this approach, a split filter is applied to either 1 or 2 x-ray sources of a dual-source CT such that 3 or 18 4 unique x-ray beam measurements can be made nearly simultaneously. This is a much more cost-effective 19 alternative to PCCT, with potentially comparable or improved MECT performance. The specific aims are: 20 (1) Determine optimal tube energies and beam filters in EID-based MECT by using computer simulations. A 21 whole-body PCCT will also be simulated to compare its performance with the EID-based MECT technique. 22 (2) Implement the EID-based MECT technique on a dual-source scanner, and perform phantom and pilot 23 animal studies. Phantoms with multiple contrast materials will be used to test both the new MECT system and 24 an existing whole-body PCCT scanner. A pilot animal study using pigs will also be performed on both systems 25 to validate the developed EID-based MECT technique in vivo, focusing on two abdominal applications. 26 The innovation of this proposal is that it will be the first to implement an EID-based MECT technique on a 27 clinical scanner, which could readily become an early clinical platform for material-specific imaging of multiple 28 contrast agents. This research is highly significant in that the comparison between EID-based and PCCT- 29 based approaches may redefine the direction of current research toward achieving clinical MECT. The long- 30 term goal of this project is to develop an accurate, reliable and cost-effective approach to imaging multiple 31 contrast agents simultaneously and to investigate various clinical applications of MECT.