Microcomputed tomography with a photon-counting x-ray detector

E. C. Frey; K. Taguchi; M. Kapusta; J. Xu; T. Orskaug; I. Ninive; D. Wagenaar; B. Patt; B. M. W. Tsui

doi:10.1117/12.711647

15 March 2007 Microcomputed tomography with a photon-counting x-ray detector

E. C. Frey, K. Taguchi, M. Kapusta, J. Xu, T. Orskaug, I. Ninive, D. Wagenaar, B. Patt, B. M. W. Tsui

Proceedings Volume 6510, Medical Imaging 2007: Physics of Medical Imaging; 65101R (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.711647
Event: Medical Imaging, 2007, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

In this work we used a novel CdTe photon counting x-ray detector capable of very high count rates to perform x-ray micro-computed tomography (microCT). The detector had 2 rows of 384 square pixels each 1 mm in size. Charge signals from individual photons were integrated with a shaping time of ~60 ns and processed by an ASIC located in close proximity to the pixels. The ASIC had 5 energy thresholds with associated independent counters for each pixel. Due to the thresholding, it is possible to eliminate dark-current contributions to image noise. By subtracting counter outputs from adjacent thresholds, it is possible to obtain the number of x-ray photon counts in 5 adjacent energy windows. The detector is capable of readout times faster than 5 ms. A prototype bench-top specimen μCT scanner was assembled having distances from the tube to the object and detector of 11 cm and 82 cm, respectively. We used a conventional x-ray source to produce 80 kVp x-ray beams with tube currents up to 400 μA resulting in count rates on the order of 600 kcps per pixel at the detector. Both phantoms and a dead mouse were imaged using acquisition times of 1.8 s per view at 1° steps around the object. The count rate loss (CRL) characteristics of the detector were measured by varying the tube current and corrected for using a paralyzable model. Images were reconstructed using analytical fan-beam reconstruction. The reconstructed images showed good contrast and noise characteristics and those obtained from different energy windows demonstrated energy-dependent contrast, thus potentially allowing for material decomposition.

Citation Download Citation

E. C. Frey, K. Taguchi, M. Kapusta, J. Xu, T. Orskaug, I. Ninive, D. Wagenaar, B. Patt, and B. M. W. Tsui "Microcomputed tomography with a photon-counting x-ray detector", Proc. SPIE 6510, Medical Imaging 2007: Physics of Medical Imaging, 65101R (15 March 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.711647

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