Dynamic bowtie filter for cone-beam/multi-slice CT.

Abstract

A pre-patient attenuator (“bowtie filter” or “bowtie”) is used to modulate an incoming x-ray beam as a function of the angle of the x-ray with respect to a patient to balance the photon flux on a detector array. While the current dynamic bowtie design is focused on fan-beam geometry, in this study we propose a methodology for dynamic bowtie design in multi-slice/cone-beam geometry. The proposed 3D dynamic bowtie is an extension of the 2D prior art. The 3D bowtie consists of a highly attenuating bowtie (HB) filled in with heavy liquid and a weakly attenuating bowtie (WB) immersed in the liquid of the HB. The HB targets a balanced flux distribution on a detector array when no object is in the field of view (FOV). The WB compensates for an object in the FOV, and hence is a scaled-down version of the object. The WB is rotated and translated in synchrony with the source rotation and patient translation so that the overall flux balance is maintained on the detector array. First, the mathematical models of different scanning modes are established for an elliptical water phantom. Then, a numerical simulation study is performed to compare the performance of the scanning modes in the cases of the water phantom and a patient cross-section without any bowtie and with a dynamic bowtie. The dynamic bowtie can equalize the numbers of detected photons in the case of the water phantom. In practical cases, the dynamic bowtie can effectively reduce the dynamic range of detected signals inside the FOV. Furthermore, the WB can be individualized using a 3D printing technique as the gold standard. We have extended the dynamic bowtie concept from 2D to 3D by using highly attenuating liquid and moving a scale-reduced negative copy of an object being scanned. Our methodology can be applied to reduce radiation dose and facilitate photon-counting detection.