PMID- 38148814
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20231228
IS  - 2405-8440 (Print)
IS  - 2405-8440 (Electronic)
IS  - 2405-8440 (Linking)
VI  - 10
IP  - 1
DP  - 2024 Jan 15
TI  - Quantitative multi-energy micro-CT: A simulation and phantom study for 
      simultaneous imaging of four different contrast materials using an energy 
      integrating detector.
PG  - e23013
LID - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23013 [doi]
LID - e23013
AB  - Emerging from the development of single-energy Computed Tomography (CT) and 
      Dual-Energy Computed Tomography, Multi-Energy Computed Tomography (MECT) is a 
      promising tool allowing advanced material and tissue decomposition and thereby 
      enabling the use of multiple contrast materials in preclinical research. The 
      scope of this work was to evaluate whether a usual preclinical micro-CT system is 
      applicable for the decomposition of different materials using MECT together with 
      a matrix-inversion method and how different changes of the 
      measurement-environment affect the results. A matrix-inversion based algorithm to 
      differentiate up to five materials (iodine, iron, barium, gadolinium, residual 
      material) by applying four different acceleration voltages/energy levels was 
      established. We carried out simulations using different ratios and concentrations 
      (given in fractions of volume units, VU) of the four different materials (plus 
      residual material) at different noise-levels for 30 keV, 40 keV, 50 keV, 60 keV, 
      80 keV and 100 keV (monochromatic). Our simulation results were then confirmed by 
      using region of interest-based measurements in a phantom-study at corresponding 
      acceleration voltages. Therefore, different mixtures of contrast materials were 
      scanned using a micro-CT. Voxel wise evaluation of the phantom imaging data was 
      conducted to confirm its usability for future imaging applications and to 
      estimate the influence of varying noise-levels, scattering, artifacts and 
      concentrations. The analysis of our simulations showed the smallest deviation of 
      0.01 (0.003-0.15) VU between given and calculated concentrations of the different 
      contrast materials when using an energy-combination of 30 keV, 40 keV, 50 keV and 
      100 keV for MECT. Subsequent MECT phantom measurements, however, revealed a 
      combination of acceleration voltages of 30 kV, 40 kV, 60 kV and 100 kV as most 
      effective for performing material decomposition with a deviation of 0.28 (0-1.07) 
      mg/ml. The feasibility of our voxelwise analyses using the proposed algorithm was 
      then confirmed by the generation of phantom parameter-maps that matched the known 
      contrast material concentrations. The results were mostly influenced by the 
      noise-level and the concentrations used in the phantoms. MECT using a standard 
      micro-CT combined with a matrix inversion method is feasible at four different 
      imaging energies and allows the differentiation of mixtures of up to four 
      contrast materials plus an additional residual material.
CI  - (c) 2023 The Authors.
FAU - Kronfeld, Andrea
AU  - Kronfeld A
AD  - University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Department 
      of Neuroradiology, Langenbeck 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
FAU - Rose, Patrick
AU  - Rose P
AD  - University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Department 
      of Neuroradiology, Langenbeck 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
AD  - RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Am Bruckweg 26, 
      65428, Russelsheim am Main, Germany.
FAU - Baumgart, Jan
AU  - Baumgart J
AD  - University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 
      Translational Animal Research Center, Hanns-Dieter-Husch-Weg 19, 55128, Mainz, 
      Germany.
FAU - Brockmann, Carolin
AU  - Brockmann C
AD  - University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Department 
      of Neuroradiology, Langenbeck 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
FAU - Othman, Ahmed E
AU  - Othman AE
AD  - University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Department 
      of Neuroradiology, Langenbeck 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
FAU - Schweizer, Bernd
AU  - Schweizer B
AD  - RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Am Bruckweg 26, 
      65428, Russelsheim am Main, Germany.
FAU - Brockmann, Marc Alexander
AU  - Brockmann MA
AD  - University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Department 
      of Neuroradiology, Langenbeck 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20231206
PL  - England
TA  - Heliyon
JT  - Heliyon
JID - 101672560
PMC - PMC10750148
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Matrix inversion
OT  - Micro-CT
OT  - Multi-energy CT
OT  - Phantom
OT  - Simulation
COIS- The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or 
      personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in 
      this paper.
EDAT- 2023/12/27 06:42
MHDA- 2023/12/27 06:43
PMCR- 2023/12/06
CRDT- 2023/12/27 03:34
PHST- 2023/03/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/11/23 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/11/23 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/12/27 06:43 [medline]
PHST- 2023/12/27 06:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/12/27 03:34 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/12/06 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - S2405-8440(23)10221-0 [pii]
AID - e23013 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23013 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Heliyon. 2023 Dec 6;10(1):e23013. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23013. eCollection 
      2024 Jan 15.