Image Reconstruction and Processing in Dynamic Computed Tomography

动态对比增强计算机断层扫描（DCE-CT）是一种广泛应用于评估各种组织损伤和疾病的微血管血流动力学的无创成像测试。这种方法依赖于注射x射线染料后用CT扫描仪扫描感兴趣的组织短时间（半到几分钟）。这种方法的一个局限性是暴露在x射线（电离辐射）下有潜在的癌症风险。通过使用更少的x射线扫描，可以最大限度地减少辐射引起的损伤，但由此产生的图像误差将影响DCE-CT评估生理参数的评估（类似于低光摄影中的过度噪声）。在本研究项目中，我们将实现新的图像重建和处理方法，以最大限度地减少从极低辐射扫描获得的DCE-CT图像的误差。提出的方法将使用模型进行优化，并根据金标准在动物身上进行验证。我们预计这项研究将显著减少DCE CT研究中的辐射暴露，并促进DCE-CT在各种疾病病理生理学评估和治疗药物开发中的广泛应用。拟议的研究项目还将为受训者提供极好的机会，在有经验丰富的导师和最先进的成像设备的环境中进行有影响力的成像研究。

Dynamic contrast enhanced computed tomography (DCE-CT) is a widely used non-invasive imaging test for assessing microvascular hemodynamics in various tissue injuries and diseases. This method relies on scanning the tissue of interest with a CT scanner for a short period of time (half to few minutes) after injecting x-ray dye. One limitation of this approach is potential cancer risk from exposure to x-rays (ionizing radiation). Radiation induced injury can be minimized by scanning with much less x-rays but the resulting image errors will affect the evaluation of physiological parameters assessed with DCE-CT (similar to the excessive noise in low-light photography). In this research program, we will implement new image reconstruction and processing methods to minimize errors in DCE-CT images acquired from extremely low radiation scanning. The proposed methods will be optimized using phantoms and validated in animals against gold standards. We anticipate that this research will lead to a significant reduction in radiation exposure in DCE CT studies and facilitate a wider use of DCE-CT for assessing the pathophysiology of various diseases and for therapeutic drug development. The proposed research program will also provide excellent opportunities for trainees to pursue impactful imaging research in an environment with experienced mentors and state-of-the-art imaging facilities.