Multi-energy CT with Energy-integrating Detector

1个项目摘要/摘要 2同时成像多种造影剂的能力可能极大地有助于许多疾病的诊断。 3腹部和心血管疾病。前景看好的临床应用包括但不限于， 4动脉粥样硬化斑块成分特征；动、静脉血管分化； 5肠腔与肠壁分离，一次扫描多期成像。能源整合 基于6探测器(EID)的双能量CT(DECT)实现了特定于材料的成像，并取得了巨大的成就 7在过去的十年中取得了成功，但它不能对多种造影剂进行准确和稳定的成像。 8个多能量CT(MECT)，其X射线束测量超过2次，目前正在运行中 9研究，能量分辨光子计数CT(PCCT)作为一种 10MECT。然而，PCCT有两个主要限制。首先，PCCT探测器可能会产生严重扭曲的光谱 11信息由于很多不理想的效果，这大大降低了他们的表现。对这些问题的修正 12个非理想效应仍然是有希望的研究课题，但尚未在PCCT系统上实现 13例能进行临床影像检查。其次，由于缺乏大规模生产，PCCT的成本非常高 14种技巧。由于这些局限性，PCCT相对于传统的基于EID的CT在常规临床上的优势 15尽管在这一领域进行了许多积极的研究，但尚未显示出实践。 16在这个探索性项目中，我们将测试一种基于EID的MECT方法，用于成像多个对比度 17名特工。在该方法中，将分割滤光器应用于双源CT的1或2个X射线源，使得3个或2个 可以几乎同时进行独一无二的X射线束测量。这是一种性价比更高的 19 PCCT的替代物，可能具有与之相当或改进的MECT性能。具体目标是： 20(1)通过计算机模拟确定基于EID的MECT中的最佳管能量和束流滤光片。一个 21全身PCCT也将被模拟，以比较其与基于EID的MECT技术的性能。 22(2)在双源扫描仪上实现基于EID的MECT技术，并进行体模和导频 23项动物研究。带有多种造影剂的模体将用于测试新的MECT系统和 24一台现有的全身PCCT扫描仪。还将在这两个系统上进行使用猪的试验性动物研究 25在活体内验证开发的基于EID的MECT技术，重点是两种腹部应用。 26这项建议的创新之处在于，它将是第一个在 27临床扫描仪，可以很容易地成为早期临床平台，为多个 28种造影剂。这项研究具有重要的意义，因为基于EID的研究与基于PCCT的研究相比具有重要的意义。 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。长的- 这个项目的长期目标是开发一种准确、可靠和经济高效的方法来对多个 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.