Appl Opt. 2022 Feb 20;61(6):C162-C178. doi: 10.1364/AO.446189.
Conventional x-ray sources for medical imaging utilize bremsstrahlung radiation. These sources generate large bandwidth (BW) x-ray spectra with large fractions of photons that impart a dose, but do not contribute to image production. X-ray sources based on laser-Compton scattering can have inherently small energy BWs and can be tuned to low dose-imparting energies, allowing them to take advantage of atomic K-edge contrast enhancement. This paper investigates the use of gadolinium-based K-edge subtraction imaging in the context of mammography using a laser-Compton source through simulations quantifying contrast and dose in such imaging systems as a function of laser-Compton source parameters. Our simulations indicate that a K-edge subtraction image generated with a 0.5% BW (FWHM) laser-Compton x-ray source can obtain an equal contrast to a bremsstrahlung image with only 3% of the dose.
传统的医学成像用 X 射线源利用韧致辐射。这些源产生具有大分数的光子的大带宽 (BW) X 射线谱，这些光子会带来剂量，但不会有助于图像生成。基于激光-康普顿散射的 X 射线源固有地具有小的能量 BW，并且可以调谐到低剂量的能量，从而利用原子 K 边对比度增强。本文通过模拟研究了在激光康普顿源的情况下使用基于镧系元素的 K 边减法成像在乳房 X 光摄影中的应用，这些模拟量化了作为激光康普顿源参数函数的此类成像系统中的对比度和剂量。我们的模拟表明，使用 0.5% BW（半峰全宽）的激光康普顿 X 射线源生成的 K 边减法图像可以获得与韧致辐射图像相等的对比度，而剂量仅为其 3%。
