Douglas J. Wagenaar

Material separation in x-ray CT with energy resolved photon-counting detectors

PURPOSE The objective of the study was to demonstrate that, in x-ray computed tomography (CT), more than two types of materials can be effectively separated with the use of an energy resolved photon-counting detector and classification methodology. Specifically, this applies to the case when contrast agents that contain K-absorption edges in the energy range of interest are present in the object. This separation is enabled via the use of recently developed energy resolved photon-counting detectors with multiple thresholds, which allow simultaneous measurements of the x-ray attenuation at multiple energies. METHODS To demonstrate this capability, we performed simulations and physical experiments using a six-threshold energy resolved photon-counting detector. We imaged mouse-sized cylindrical phantoms filled with several soft-tissue-like and bone-like materials and with iodine-based and gadolinium-based contrast agents. The linear attenuation coefficients were reconstructed for each material in each energy window and were visualized as scatter plots between pairs of energy windows. For comparison, a dual-kVp CT was also simulated using the same phantom materials. In this case, the linear attenuation coefficients at the lower kVp were plotted against those at the higher kVp. RESULTS In both the simulations and the physical experiments, the contrast agents were easily separable from other soft-tissue-like and bone-like materials, thanks to the availability of the attenuation coefficient measurements at more than two energies provided by the energy resolved photon-counting detector. In the simulations, the amount of separation was observed to be proportional to the concentration of the contrast agents; however, this was not observed in the physical experiments due to limitations of the real detector system. We used the angle between pairs of attenuation coefficient vectors in either the 5-D space (for non-contrast-agent materials using energy resolved photon-counting acquisition) or a 2-D space (for contrast agents using energy resolved photon-counting acquisition and all materials using dual-kVp acquisition) as a measure of the degree of separation. Compared to dual-kVp techniques, an energy resolved detector provided a larger separation and the ability to separate different target materials using measurements acquired in different energy window pairs with a single x-ray exposure. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that x-ray CT with an energy resolved photon-counting detector with more than two energy windows allows the separation of more than two types of materials, e.g., soft-tissue-like, bone-like, and one or more materials with K-edges in the energy range of interest. Separating material types using energy resolved photon-counting detectors has a number of advantages over dual-kVp CT in terms of the degree of separation and the number of materials that can be separated simultaneously.

Evaluation of video gray‐scale display

Setting up and maintaining video display monitors properly will help to reduce display variation and improve overall presentation of the radiological image. Display monitor gray-scale characteristics were examined using the SMPTE test pattern. This test pattern may be used as a standard for adjusting brightness and contrast. The controls should be adjusted to display the full dynamic range so that the 5% and 95% signal levels in the pattern are visible. Measured luminance on a laboratory workstation used for radiological perceptual experiments, and on the Siemens CT gray-scale monitor was determined to range from 0.17 to 76.0 nit, and 0.17 to 24.66 nit, respectively. These were compared with the range of approximately 17 to 514 nit for a typical film-viewbox combination. Characteristic curves were determined for both monitors, and CRT gammas were 3.34 and 2.48 for the perceptual workstation and CT console, respectively. The display gamma was determined from fitting luminance data to a log-log plot of luminance versus input gray level. The usefulness of the SMPTE test pattern for visual presentation as well as photometric measurement is demonstrated.

Engineering Aspects of a Kinestatic Charge Detector

The engineering aspects of a nine-channel digital radiographic system developed for bioimaging research, based on high gas pressure ionography and kinestatic principles, are presented. The research imaging system uses a pulsed x-ray beam which allows one to study simultaneously the ionic signal characteristics at 10 different ionization sites along the drift axis. This research imaging detector system allows one to investigate methods to improve the detection and image quality parameters as part of the development of a large scale prototype medical imaging system.

Use of a low ionization potential dopant in a kinestatic charge detector: Experimental findings

The broadening of the line spread function (LSF) in the drift direction with increasing drift distance in the kinestatic charge detector is substantially reduced when small amounts (less than 1%) of trimethylamine [(CH3)3 N] are added to the x-ray detection medium (krypton or xenon). The LSF of a mixture of Kr and 0.01% trimethylamine (TMA) was measured as a function of distance at 15, 25, and 35 atm absolute pressure. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the LSF was reduced from about 1.0 mm to less than 0.5 mm at a drift distance of 4.0 mm for the three pressures. The LSFs of mixtures of xenon and TMA at concentrations ranging from 0.0004% to 0.4% in one run and 0.06% to 4.0% in a second run were measured at a constant pressure of 20 atm. The FWHM of the LSF was reduced from 0.6 to 0.4 mm at 4.0 mm for the xenon measurements. The optimum concentration of TMA in Xe was found to be in the neighborhood of 0.1%. The use of TMA reduced the drift distance-dependent LSF broadening to the level expected from ionic diffusion, space charge repulsion, and electric field nonuniformity, and it may be possible to reduce the 0.4-mm FWHM plateau through the use of an improved Frisch grid design. Observation of negative charge carriers showed that electron attachment increases with increasing TMA concentration, although this could be caused by impurities in the TMA. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of extending the maximum drift distance attainable in a kinestatic charge detector.

Feasibility study of a unilateral RF array coil for MR-scintimammography.

Despite its high sensitivity, the variable specificity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in breast cancer diagnosis can lead to unnecessary biopsies and over-treatment. Scintimammography (SMM) could potentially supplement MRI to improve the diagnostic specificity. The synergistic combination of MRI and SMM (MRSMM) could result in both high sensitivity from MRI and high specificity from SMM. Development of such a dual-modality system requires the integration of a radio frequency (RF) coil and radiation detector in a strong magnetic field without significant mutual interference. In this study, we developed and tested a unilateral breast array coil specialized for MRSMM imaging. The electromagnetic field, specific absorption ratio and RF coil parameters with cadmium-zinc-telluride detectors encapsulated in specialized RF and gamma-ray shielding mounted within the RF coil were investigated through simulation and experimental measurements. Simultaneous MR and SMM images of a breast phantom were also acquired using the integrated MRSMM system. This work, we feel, represents an important step toward the fabrication of a working MRSMM system.

Dual-Modality Preclinical SPECT/MRI Instrumentation

Single photon emission tomography (SPET or SPECT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are in use routinely in hospitals worldwide. Each of these modalities is steadily growing in study volume and makes a major contribution to healthcare, with approximately 40 million SPECT and 60 million MRI patient exams completed every year. Also in the preclinical research field both SPECT and MRI are found to play important roles, with an installed base of about 200 microSPECT and 400 small animal MRI systems in use as of the beginning of 2009. The high magnetic field strengths of modern MRI machines, both clinical and preclinical, preclude the use of conventional photomultiplier-tube based SPECT equipment in the vicinity of the magnet. If a patient or a laboratory animal is to be imaged by both modalities, the two studies must be done in separate imaging sessions—always in different rooms and often in different departments and sometimes even in different buildings within a medical facility. Combined SPECT/MRI imaging is important since non-invasive probing of intact, living biological organisms—human or laboratory animal—bridges the gap between exponentially growing understanding of molecular and genetic mechanisms and the phenotypical embodiments of diseases and their response to treatments.

Basic design and simulation of a SPECT microscope for in vivo stem cell imaging

The need to understand the behavior of individual stem cells at the various stages of their differentiation and to assess the resulting reparative action in pre-clinical model systems, which typically involves laboratory animals, provides the motivation for imaging of stem cells in vivo at high resolution. Our initial focus is to image cells and cellular events at single cell resolution in vivo in shallow tissues (few mm of intervening tissue) in laboratory mice and rates. In order to accomplish this goal we are building a SPECT-based microscope. We based our design on earlier theoretical work with near-field coded apertures and have adjusted the components of the system to meet the real-world demands of instrument construction and of animal imaging. Our instrumental design possesses a reasonable trade-off between field-of-view, sensitivity, and contrast performance (photon penetration). A layered gold aperture containing 100 pinholes and intended for use in coded aperture imaging application has been designed and constructed. A silicon detector connected to a TimePix readout from the CERN collaborative group was selected for use in our prototype microscope because of its ultra-high spatial and energy resolution capabilities. The combination of the source, aperture, and detector has been modeled and the coded aperture reconstruction of simulated sources is presented in this work.