Spectral, Photon Counting Computed Tomography Technology and Applications Devices, Circuits, and Systems Series

Spectral, Photon Counting Computed Tomography is a comprehensive cover of the latest developments in the most prevalent imaging modality (x-ray computed tomography (CT)) in its latest incarnation: Spectral, Dual-Energy, and Photon Counting CT. Disadvantages of the conventional single-energy technique used by CT technology are that different materials cannot be distinguished and that the noise is larger. To address these problems, a novel spectral CT concept has been proposed. Spectral Dual-Energy CT (DE-CT) acquires two sets of spectral data, and Spectral Photon Counting CT (PC-CT) detects energy of x-ray photons to reveal additional material information of objects by using novel energy-sensitive, photon-counting detectors. The K-edge imaging may be a gateway for functional or molecular CT. The book covers detectors and electronics, image reconstruction methods, image quality assessments, a simulation tool, nanoparticle contrast agents, and clinical applications for spectral CT.

PART I Spectral, Dual-Energy CT: Clinical Perspective and Applications. Chapter 1 Spectral Imaging Technologies and Apps and Dual-Layer Detector Solution. Chapter 2 Clinical Applications of Dual Energy CT in Neuroradiology. Chapter 3 Clinical Perspective on Dual Energy Computed Tomography. PART II Spectral, Photon-Counting CT: Clinical Perspective and Applications. Chapter 4 Imaging of the Breast with Photon- Counting Detectors. Chapter 5 Clinical Applications of Photon-Counting Detector Computed Tomography. Chapter 6 Clinical Perspectives of Spectral Photon-Counting CT. Chapter 7 Spectral CT imaging using MARS Scanners. Chapter 8 Advances in and Uses of Contrast Agents for Spectral Photon Counting Computed Tomography. Chapter 9 Clinical Applications of Spectral Computed Tomography: Enabling Technique for Novel Contrast Developments and Targeting Imaging?. PART III Photon-Counting Detectors for Spectral CT. Chapter 10 X-ray Detectors for Spectral Photon Counting CT. Chapter 11 Spectral Performance of Photon-Counting X-Ray Detectors: How Well Can We Capture the Rainbow?. Chapter 12 Photon Counting Detectors Viewed as Non-Linear, Shift-Variant Systems. Chapter 13 Signal Generation in Semiconductor Detectors for Photon-Counting CT. Chapter 14 Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) for Spectral Photon Counting. Chapter 15 ChromAIX: Energy-Resolving Photon Counting Electronics for High-Flux Spectral CT. Chapter 16 Modelling the Imaging Performance of Photon Counting X-Ray Detectors. Chapter 17 Design Considerations for Photon Counting Detectors: Connecting Detector Characteristics to System Performance. Chapter 18 Photon Counting Detector Simulator: Photon Counting Toolkit (PcTK). PART IV Image Reconstruction for Spectral CT. Chapter 19 Image Formation in Spectral Computed Tomography. Chapter 20 Spectral Distortion Compensation for Spectral CT. Chapter 21 Novel Regularization Method with Knowledge of Region Types and Boundaries.

Katsuyuki “Ken” Taguchi, Ph.D. is Professor in The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has pioneered and implemented algorithms for prototypes and commercial scanners such as multi-slice CT in 1998, cardiac CT in 2000, and 256-slice CT in 2002. Due to those seminal works and his significant contribution, Dr. Taguchi has received IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society 2008 Young Investigator Medical Imaging Science Award.

Ira Blevis is Principal Scientist in Philips Healthcare developing semiconductor radiation detectors and Photon Counting CT based on them. Recent progress with the detectors led to a prototype PC scanner based on CZT which served as a basis for an EU H2020 grant awarded to develop a full size prototype for clinical use; Ira served a term as Director of the Philips Project and serves as Philips PI on the Grant.

Krzysztof (Kris) Iniewski is managing R&D development activities at Redlen Technologies Inc., a compound semiconductor detector company based in British Columbia, Canada. During his 12 years at Redlen he managed development of highly integrated CZT detector products in medical imaging and security applications.