Differential phase contrast technique could be the next breakthrough in the field of CT imaging. While traditional absorption-based X-ray CT imaging is inefficient at differentiating soft tissues, phase-contrast technique offers great advantage as being able to produce higher contrast images utilizing the phase information of objects. Our long term goal is to develop a gantry-based hospital-grade X-ray tube differential phase contrast cone-beam CT (DPC-CBCT) technology which is able to achieve higher contrast noise ratio (CNR) in soft tissue imaging without increasing the dose level. Based on the micro-focus system built last year, a bench-top hospital-grade X-ray tube DPC-CBCT system is designed and constructed. The DPC-CBCT system consists of an X-ray source, i.e. a hospital-grade X-ray tube and a source grating, a high-resolution detector, a rotating phantom holder, a phase grating and an analyzer grating. Threedimensional (3-D) phase-coefficients are reconstructed, providing us with images enjoying higher CNR than, yet equivalent dose level to, a conventional CBCT scan. Three important aspects of the system are investigated: a) The The system's performance in term of CNR of the reconstruction image with regard to dose levels, b) the impacts of different phase stepping schemes, i.e. 5 steps to 8 steps, in term of CNR on the reconstruction images, and c) the influence of magnification or position of the phantom on image quality, chiefly CNR. The investigations are accomplished via phantom study.

Date Published: 9 March 2012
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 8313, Medical Imaging 2012: Physics of Medical Imaging, 83134F (9 March 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.911400

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8313:
Medical Imaging 2012: Physics of Medical Imaging
Norbert J. Pelc; Robert M. Nishikawa; Bruce R. Whiting, Editor(s)