A Novel and Reliable Pixel Response Correction Method (DAC-Shifting) for Spectral Photon-Counting CT Imaging

Autor: Navrit Johan Singh Bal, Imaiyan Chitra Ragupathy, Trine Tramm, Jasper Nijkamp
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Tomography, Vol 10, Iss 7, Pp 1168-1191 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2379-139X
2379-1381
DOI: 10.3390/tomography10070089
Popis: Spectral photon-counting cone-beam computed tomography (CT) imaging is challenged by individual pixel response behaviours, which lead to noisy projection images and subsequent image artefacts like rings. Existing methods to correct for this either use calibration measurements, like signal-to-thickness calibration (STC), or perform a post-processing ring artefact correction of sinogram data or scan reconstructions without taking the pixel response explicitly into account. Here, we present a novel post-processing method (digital-to-analogue converter (DAC)-shifting) which explicitly measures the current pixel response using flat-field images and subsequently corrects the projection data. The DAC-shifting method was evaluated using a repeat series of the spectral photon-counting imaging (Medipix3) of a phantom with different density inserts and iodine K-edge imaging. The method was also compared against polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-based STC. The DAC-shifting method was shown to be effective in correcting individual pixel responses and was robust against detector instability; it led to a 47.4% average reduction in CT-number variation in homogeneous materials, with a range of 40.7–55.6%. On the contrary, the STC correction showed varying results; a 13.7% average reduction in CT-number variation, ranging from a 43.7% increase to a 45.5% reduction. In K-edge imaging, DAC-shifting provides a sharper attenuation peak and more uniform CT values, which are expected to benefit iodine concentration quantifications.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals