Leng S, Gutjahr R, Ferrero A, Kappler S, Henning A, Halaweish A, Zhou W, Montoya J, McCollough C
Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
CAMP, Technical University of Munich, Garching (Munich), Germany; Siemens Healthcare, Forchheim, Germany.
Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng. 2017 Feb 11;10132. doi: 10.1117/12.2255589. Epub 2017 Mar 9.
Two ultra-high-resolution (UHR) imaging modes, each with two energy thresholds, were implemented on a research, whole-body photon-counting-detector (PCD) CT scanner, referred to as sharp and UHR, respectively. The UHR mode has a pixel size of 0.25 mm at iso-center for both energy thresholds, with a collimation of 32 × 0.25 mm. The sharp mode has a 0.25 mm pixel for the low-energy threshold and 0.5 mm for the high-energy threshold, with a collimation of 48 × 0.25 mm. Kidney stones with mixed mineral composition and lung nodules with different shapes were scanned using both modes, and with the standard imaging mode, referred to as macro mode (0.5 mm pixel and 32 × 0.5 mm collimation). Evaluation and comparison of the three modes focused on the ability to accurately delineate anatomic structures using the high-spatial resolution capability and the ability to quantify stone composition using the multi-energy capability. The low-energy threshold images of the sharp and UHR modes showed better shape and texture information due to the achieved higher spatial resolution, although noise was also higher. No noticeable benefit was shown in multi-energy analysis using UHR compared to standard resolution (macro mode) when standard doses were used. This was due to excessive noise in the higher resolution images. However, UHR scans at higher dose showed improvement in multi-energy analysis over macro mode with regular dose. To fully take advantage of the higher spatial resolution in multi-energy analysis, either increased radiation dose, or application of noise reduction techniques, is needed.
在一台研究用的全身光子计数探测器(PCD)CT扫描仪上实现了两种超高分辨率(UHR)成像模式,每种模式有两个能量阈值,分别称为锐利模式和UHR模式。UHR模式在等中心处两种能量阈值下的像素尺寸均为0.25毫米,准直为32×0.25毫米。锐利模式在低能量阈值下的像素为0.25毫米,高能量阈值下为0.5毫米,准直为48×0.25毫米。使用这两种模式以及标准成像模式(称为宏模式,像素0.5毫米,准直32×0.5毫米)对具有混合矿物质成分的肾结石和不同形状的肺结节进行扫描。对这三种模式的评估和比较集中在利用高空间分辨率能力准确描绘解剖结构的能力以及利用多能量能力量化结石成分的能力上。锐利模式和UHR模式的低能量阈值图像由于实现了更高的空间分辨率,显示出更好的形状和纹理信息,尽管噪声也更高。当使用标准剂量时,与标准分辨率(宏模式)相比,UHR在多能量分析中未显示出明显优势。这是由于高分辨率图像中噪声过大。然而,高剂量的UHR扫描在多能量分析方面比常规剂量的宏模式有所改善。为了在多能量分析中充分利用更高的空间分辨率,需要增加辐射剂量或应用降噪技术。