Medical imaging applications of next-generation spectroscopic x-ray imaging detectors

动机：医用x射线成像彻底改变了现代医学；每年在北美进行的x射线成像手术超过2亿例。然而，x射线成像程序与癌症风险有关，据估计，全球每年有2万例癌症归因于x射线成像的辐射暴露。因此，迫切需要减少x射线成像的辐射暴露。x射线成像的效率受到x射线探测器技术的限制。因此，提高x射线探测器的剂量效率有望减少x射线成像程序所需的辐射量。x射线探测器技术的进步导致了光谱x射线探测器，它能够以足够的速率估计单个x射线光子的能量，用于广泛的医学成像程序。这是一种完全不同于临床可用系统的x射线检测方法，可能会成为低剂量x射线成像的新范例。研究问题：需要更多的研究来优化特定成像任务的光谱x射线探测器，并提供相对于现有方法的剂量效率的循证数据。这是具有挑战性的，因为光谱x射线探测器的开发先于优化其成像性能的综合分析框架，并将优化的光谱方法与传统的x射线成像方法进行比较。这一关键限制阻碍了光谱x射线系统的开发和优化，从而损害了光谱系统的识别，这些系统具有成功临床应用的最佳潜力。***目的：本研究项目将开发用于定量评估光谱x射线成像方法成像性能的分析工具，这将使：1)指导新型光谱系统的开发；2)建立性能基准，与实验结果进行比较；3)确定哪些光谱x射线系统将提高x射线图像质量，同时降低相关风险。***影响：光谱x射线成像是下一代医用x射线成像技术，使现有临床技术无法实现的先进医学成像应用成为可能。该研究项目将为图像科学家和医学成像系统开发人员提供急需的分析工具，以确定哪些光谱x射线成像系统及其应用将提高疾病的可检测性，同时将相关风险降至最低。这项研究的结果将使学术界和工业界能够将宝贵的研究资源用于设计和测试具有成功临床应用潜力的光谱系统。

MOTIVATION: Medical x-ray imaging has revolutionized modern medicine; greater than 200 million x-ray imaging procedures are performed each year in North America. However, x-ray imaging procedures have been associated with cancer risks, with an estimated 20,000 cancers worldwide per year attributed to radiation exposure from x-ray imaging. There is therefore an urgent need to reduce radiation exposures from x-ray imaging. The efficiency with which x-rays are used to produce an image is limited by x-ray detector technology. Improving the dose efficiency of x-ray detectors is therefore expected to reduce the amount of radiation required for x-ray imaging procedures. Advances in x-ray detector technology have led to spectroscopic x-ray detectors, which are capable of estimating the energy of individual x-ray photons at rates adequate for a wide range of medical imaging procedures. This is an entirely different approach to x-ray detection than that used in clinically-available systems, and may potentiate a new paradigm of low-dose x-ray imaging.***RESEARCH PROBLEM: More research is needed to optimize spectroscopic x-ray detectors for specific imaging tasks and to provide evidence-based data on their dose efficiency relative to existing approaches. This is challenging because the development of spectroscopic x-ray detectors preceded a comprehensive analytical framework for optimizing their imaging performance and for comparing optimized spectroscopic methods with conventional x-ray imaging methods. This critical limitation impedes the development and optimization of spectroscopic x-ray systems, which subsequently impairs identification of the spectroscopic systems that have the best potential for successful clinical implementation.***OBJECTIVES: This research program will develop analytical tools for quantitative evaluation of the imaging performance of spectroscopic x-ray imaging methods, which will enable: 1) guiding the development of novel spectroscopic systems; 2) establishing performance benchmarks for comparison with experimental results, and; 3) identifying which spectroscopic x-ray systems will improve x-ray image quality while reducing associated risks.***IMPACT: Spectroscopic x-ray imaging is the next generation of medical x-ray imaging, enabling advanced medical imaging applications not possible with existing clinical technology. This research program will provide image scientists and medical-imaging-system developers with the analytical tools that are urgently required to identify which spectroscopic x-ray imaging systems, and applications thereof, will improve disease detectability while minimizing associated risks. The results of this research will enable academia and industry to target valuable research resources at designing and testing the spectroscopic systems that have the best potential for successful clinical implementation.