Development of a prototype gantry system for preclinical x-ray phase-contrast computed tomography.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	Development of a prototype gantry system for preclinical x-ray phase-contrast computed tomography.
Authors:	Tapfer, Arne¹, Bech, Martin¹, Pauwels, Bart², Liu, Xuan², Bruyndonckx, Peter², Sasov, Alexander², Kenntner, Johannes³, Mohr, Jürgen³, Walter, Marco⁴, Schulz, Joachim⁴, Pfeiffer, Franz¹
Source:	Medical Physics. Nov2011, Vol. 38 Issue 11, p5910-5915. 6p.
Subjects:	Contrast media, Tomography, X-rays, Imaging phantoms, Image reconstruction, Refractive index, Medical imaging systems
Abstract:	Purpose: To explore the potential of grating-based x-ray phase-contrast imaging for clinical applications, a first compact gantry system was developed. It is designed such that it can be implemented into an in-vivo small-animal phase-contrast computed tomography (PC-CT) scanner. The purpose of the present study is to assess the accuracy and quantitativeness of the described gantry in both absorption and phase-contrast. Methods: A phantom, containing six chemically well-defined liquids, was constructed. A tomography scan with cone-beam reconstruction of this phantom was performed yielding the spatial distribution of the linear attenuation coefficient μ and decrement δ of the complex refractive index. Theoretical values of μ and δ were calculated for each liquid from tabulated data and compared with the experimentally measured values. Additionally, a color-fused image representation is proposed to display the complementary absorption and phase-contrast information in a single image. Results: Experimental and calculated data of the phantom agree well confirming the quantitativeness and accuracy of the reconstructed spatial distributions of μ and δ. The proposed color-fused image representation, which combines the complementary absorption and phase information, considerably helps in distinguishing the individual substances. Conclusions: The concept of grating-based phase-contrast computed tomography (CT) can be implemented into a compact, cone-beam geometry gantry setup. The authors believe that this work represents an important milestone in translating phase-contrast x-ray imaging from previous proof-of-principle experiments to first preclinical biomedical imaging applications on small-animal models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database:	Engineering Source

Description
Abstract:	Purpose: To explore the potential of grating-based x-ray phase-contrast imaging for clinical applications, a first compact gantry system was developed. It is designed such that it can be implemented into an in-vivo small-animal phase-contrast computed tomography (PC-CT) scanner. The purpose of the present study is to assess the accuracy and quantitativeness of the described gantry in both absorption and phase-contrast. Methods: A phantom, containing six chemically well-defined liquids, was constructed. A tomography scan with cone-beam reconstruction of this phantom was performed yielding the spatial distribution of the linear attenuation coefficient μ and decrement δ of the complex refractive index. Theoretical values of μ and δ were calculated for each liquid from tabulated data and compared with the experimentally measured values. Additionally, a color-fused image representation is proposed to display the complementary absorption and phase-contrast information in a single image. Results: Experimental and calculated data of the phantom agree well confirming the quantitativeness and accuracy of the reconstructed spatial distributions of μ and δ. The proposed color-fused image representation, which combines the complementary absorption and phase information, considerably helps in distinguishing the individual substances. Conclusions: The concept of grating-based phase-contrast computed tomography (CT) can be implemented into a compact, cone-beam geometry gantry setup. The authors believe that this work represents an important milestone in translating phase-contrast x-ray imaging from previous proof-of-principle experiments to first preclinical biomedical imaging applications on small-animal models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	00942405
DOI:	10.1118/1.3644844