X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) is an emerging imaging modality that enables quantification of the distribution of high-Z elements, including gold, gadolinium, and iodine, in diverse biomedical applications, by specifically detecting the x-ray fluorescence (XRF) emitted from the target element. Pixelated semiconductor detectors such as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) sensors are particularly suited for XFCT imaging due to their high energy and spatial resolution capabilities. However, their performance degrades because of multi-pixel events, which occur when an incident photon deposits energy across multiple adjacent pixels. In this study, we implement corrections for the energy loss during charge sharing. Furthermore, for bi-pixel events occurring within the gadolinium K α energy and caused by the escape and re-capture of detector elements’ x-ray fluorescence, we correct the interaction location. To validate the efficacy of the charge sharing energy loss correction and fluorescence escape events location correction, we utilized a PMMA phantom filled with Gadolinium saline solutions at concentrations ranging from 0 to 1.2mg/ml for XFCT imaging. The implemented corrections enhanced the contrast noise ratio in the gadolinium region. These improvements in XFCT imaging quality are useful for the preclinical investigation of precise tumor diagnosis and treatment using high atomic number element nanoparticles, and for other semiconductor detector-based imaging modalities.
This paper introduces and discusses the development of an interesting multimodal CT imaging technique, called full x-ray particle information CT (PI-CT), which combines x-ray transmission, fluorescence, and scattering tomography using a polychromatic x-ray source. The PI-CT allows for the simultaneous reconstruction of high-resolution tissue structure images, quantitative imaging of high-Z element concentrations, and electron density distributions. During x-ray photons passing through an object, photoelectric effects and Compton scattering may occur, resulting in x-ray attenuation and the generation of scattering and fluorescent photons. All these interaction information is innovatively utilized in PI-CT to detect and image different physical quantities inside the object. X-ray transmission CT could image the object’s high-resolution structure. X-ray fluorescence CT could realize the quantitative imaging of high-Z agents. Compton scattering CT could reconstruct the electron density information, which may have better contrast in weak absorption radiation imaging cases, such as lung imaging. Therefore, with the help of functional imaging nanoparticles, PI-CT can provide both high-resolution tissue structure images and highly sensitive molecular functional images of living animals, which provides a new multimodal tool for tumor diagnosis and treatment. Experimental results demonstrate the potential of PI-CT in enhancing multimodal CT imaging, particularly in tumor diagnosis and treatment applications.
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