Investigation of X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) and K-edge imaging.

Bazalova, Magdalena; Kuang, Yu; Pratx, Guillem; Xing, Lei · IEEE Trans Med Imaging · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

This work provides a comprehensive Monte Carlo study of X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) and K-edge imaging system, including the system design, the influence of various imaging components, the sensitivity and resolution under various conditions. We modified the widely used EGSnrc/DOSXYZnrc code to simulate XFCT images of two acrylic phantoms loaded with various concentrations of gold nanoparticles and Cisplatin for a number of XFCT geometries. In particular, reconstructed signal as a function of the width of the detector ring, its angular coverage and energy resolution were studied. We found that XFCT imaging sensitivity of the modeled systems consisting of a conventional X-ray tube and a full 2-cm-wide energy-resolving detector ring was 0.061% and 0.042% for gold nanoparticles and Cisplatin, respectively, for a dose of ∼ 10 cGy. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of XFCT images of the simulated acrylic phantoms was higher than that of transmission K-edge images for contrast concentrations below 0.4%.

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