Levon Vogelsang

Development of ultrafast laser-based x-ray in-vivo phase-contrast micro-CT beamline for biomedical applications at Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS)

We are developing and exploring the imaging performance of, an in vivo, in-line holography, x-ray phase-contrast, micro-CT system with an ultrafast laser-based x-ray (ULX) source. By testing and refining our system, and by performing computer simulations, we plan to improve system performance in terms of contrast resolution and multi-energy imaging to a level beyond what can be obtained using a conventional microfocal x-ray tube. Initial CT projection sets at single energy (Mo Kα and Kβ lines) were acquired in the Fresnel regime and reconstructed for phantoms and a euthanized mouse. We also performed computer simulations of phase-contrast micro-CT scans for low-contrast, soft-tissue, tumor imaging. We determined that, in order to perform a phase-contrast, complete micro-CT scan using ULX, the following conditions must be met: (i) the x-ray source needs to be stable during the scan; (ii) the laser focal spot size needs to be less than 10 μm for source-to-object distance greater than 30 cm; (iii) the laser light intensity on the target needs to be in the range of 5 × 1017 to 5 × 1019 W/cm2; (iv) the ablation protection system needs to allow uninterrupted scans; (v) the laser light focusing on the target needs to remain accurate during the entire scan; (vi) a fresh surface of the target must be exposed to consecutive laser shots during the entire scan; (vii) the effective detector element size must be less than 12 μm. Based on the results obtained in this research project, we anticipate that the new 10 Hz, 200 TW laser with 50W average power that is being commissioned at ALLS will allow us practical implementation of in vivo x-ray phase-contrast micro-CT.

Soft tissue small avascular tumor imaging with x-ray phase-contrast micro-CT in-line holography

To assess the feasibility of small soft tissue avascular tumor micro-CT imaging with x-ray phase-contrast in-line holography, we have studied micro-CT imaging with in-line geometry of small spheroidal avascular tumor models with quiescent cell core (< 250 μm) and various distributions of the proliferating cell density (PCD) forming the outer shell. We have simulated imaging with an ultrafast laser-based x-ray source with a Mo target. We observe phase-contrast enhancement of the tumor boundaries in the reconstructed transaxial images, resulting in improved detection of small soft tissue tumors, providing that the PCD density gradient is sufficiently large.

Semi-dynamic preconditioned alternating projection MAP ECT reconstruction from low-dose ECT

The objective of this study was to develop very low noise and high-contrast-to-noise ratio fast proximity algorithm for MAP ECT reconstruction that would allow significant (factor of two or more) patient’s dose reduction, as compared to conventional OSEM algorithm. We proposed a semi-dynamic Preconditioned Alternating Projection Algorithm (PAPA) for solving the maximum a posteriori (MAP) emission computed tomography (ECT) reconstruction problem. Specifically, we formulated the reconstruction problem as a constrained convex optimization problem with the total variation (TV) regularization. We characterized the solution of the constrained convex optimization problem and showed that it satisfies a system of fixed-point equations defined in terms of two proximity operators arising from the convex functions that define the TV-norm and the constrain involved in the problem. We proved theoretically the convergence of the proposed algorithm. For efficient numerical computation, we introduced to the alternating projection algorithm a preconditioning matrix: the EM-preconditioner. In numerical experiments using Monte Carlo simulated SPECT data performance of our algorithms was compared with performance of the conventional EM algorithm with Gaussian postfilter. Based on the results of these experiments, we observed that PAPA algorithm with the EM-preconditioner outperforms very significantly the benchmark EM in terms of contrast-to-noise ratio and the noise characteristics of the reconstructed images.

System matrix for OSEM SPECT with attenuation compensation in mesh domain

The purpose of this study was to develop and implement an accurate and computationally efficient method for determination of the mesh-domain ssssssystem matrix including attenuation compensation for Ordered Subsets Expectation Maximization (OSEM) Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). The mesh-domain system matrix elements were estimated by first partitioning the object domain into strips parallel to detector face and with width not exceeding the size of a detector unit. This was followed by approximating the integration over the strip/mesh-element union. This approximation is product of: (i) strip width, (ii) intersection length of a ray central to strip with a mesh element, and (iii) the response and expansion function evaluated at midpoint of the intersection length. Reconstruction was performed using OSEM without regularization and with exact knowledge of the attenuation map. The method was evaluated using synthetic SPECT data generated using SIMIND Monte Carlo simulation software. Comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis included: bias, variance, standard deviation and line-profiles within three different regions of interest. We found that no more than two divisions per detector bin were needed for good quality reconstructed images when using a high resolution mesh.

Hyperparameter selection for OSEM SPECT reconstruction in mesh domain with total variation regularization

The purpose of this study was investigation of the L-curve method performance for the optimized hyperparameter selection in maximum a posteriori (MAP) Ordered Subsets Expectation Maximization (OSEM) Single Photon Computed Emission Tomography (SPECT) reconstruction in mesh domain with Total Variation (TV) regularization for different noise levels and three different mesh resolutions. Reconstruction with TV prior requires tuning of only one Bayesian hyperparameter β. This was accomplished by application of the L-curve method. We analyzed the reconstructed image quality for various values of β and investigated the relationship between the optimized β, the mesh structure and the noise level in the projection data. We have found that each obtained L-curve exhibited one well-defined minimum and the optimal trade-off between noise and spatial resolution in the reconstructed images occurred for the value of β defined by that minimum. The L-curves minima shifted towards lower values with increasing mesh resolution and towards higher values with increasing noise in the SPECT data. The shape of the L-curve depended on the mesh resolution and the noise level. By analyzing the reconstructed image quality, we have verified that the L-curve method is a suitable tool for estimation of the optimized value for the hyperparameter.

Implementation OSEM mesh-domain SPECT reconstruction with explicit prior information

In order to improve reconstructed image quality, we investigated performance of OSEM mesh-domain SPECT reconstruction with explicit prior anatomical and physiological information that was used to perform accurate attenuation compensation. It was accomplished in the following steps: (i) Obtain anatomical and physiological atlas of desired region of interest; (ii) Generate mesh that encodes properties of the atlas; (iii) Perform initial pixel-based reconstruction on projection dataset; (iv) Register the expected emission atlas to the initial pixel-based reconstruction and apply resulting transformation to meshed atlas; (v) Perform reconstruction in mesh-domain using deformed mesh of the atlas. This approach was tested on synthetic SPECT noise-free and noisy data. Comparative quantitative analysis demonstrated that this method outperformed pixel-based OSEM with uniform AC and is a promising approach that might lead to improved SPECT reconstruction quality.

Attenuation compensation in mesh-domain OSEM SPECT reconstruction

A new method for attenuation compensation (AC) in mesh-domain SPECT OSEM reconstruction using strip-area approximation (SAAC) is introduced and compared to single-ray AC (SRAC). SAAC uses the polygonal area of the intersection of a mesh element (ME) and a tube-of-response (TOR) for defining an effective length of photon transit and an effective attenuation coefficient. This approach to AC is compared to SRAC, which defines the effective length of photon transit as the intersection of a single ray and a ME and the effective attenuation coefficient as the mean along the ray path. Comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis demonstrated that SAAC outperformed SRAC in terms of reconstruction image accuracy and quality.

Expectation maximization SPECT reconstruction with a content-adaptive singularity-based mesh-domain image model

To improve the speed and quality of ordered-subsets expectation-maximization (OSEM) SPECT reconstruction, we have implemented a content-adaptive, singularity-based, mesh-domain, image model (CASMIM) with an accurate algorithm for estimation of the mesh-domain system matrix. A preliminary image, used to initialize CASMIM reconstruction, was obtained using pixel-domain OSEM. The mesh-domain representation of the image was produced by a 2D wavelet transform followed by Delaunay triangulation to obtain joint estimation of nodal locations and their activity values. A system matrix with attenuation compensation was investigated. Digital chest phantom SPECT was simulated and reconstructed. The quality of images reconstructed with OSEM-CASMIM is comparable to that from pixel-domain OSEM, but images are obtained five times faster by the CASMIM method.

Development of a fully 3D system model in iterative expectation-maximization reconstruction for cone-beam SPECT

In order to improve reconstructed image quality for cone-beam collimator SPECT, we have developed and implemented a fully 3D reconstruction, using an ordered subsets expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm, along with a volumetric system model - cone-volume system model (CVSM), a modified attenuation compensation, and a 3D depth- and angle-dependent resolution and sensitivity correction. SPECT data were acquired in a 128×128 matrix, in 120 views with a single circular orbit. Two sets of numerical Defrise phantoms were used to simulate CBC SPECT scans, and low noise and scatter-free projection datasets were obtained using the SimSET Monte Carlo package. The reconstructed images, obtained using OSEM with a line-length system model (LLSM) and a 3D Gaussian post-filter, and OSEM with FVSM and a 3D Gaussian post-filter were quantitatively studied. Overall improvement in the image quality has been observed, including better transaxial resolution, higher contrast-to-noise ratio between hot and cold disks, and better accuracy and lower bias in OSEM-CVSM, compared with OSEM-LLSM.