Secondary radiations in cone-beam computed tomography: simulation study

Abstract

Accurate quantitative reconstruction in kV cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is challenged by the presence of secondary radiations (scattering, fluorescence, and bremsstrahlung photons) coming from the object and from the detector itself. The authors present a simulation study of the CBCT imaging chain and its integration into a comprehensive correction algorithm. A layer model of the flat-panel detector is built in a Monte Carlo environment in order to help in localizing and analyzing the secondary radiations. The contribution of these events to the final image is estimated with a convolution model to account for detector secondary radiations combined with a forced-detection scheme to speed-up the Monte Carlo simulation without loss of accuracy. We more specifically assess to what extent a 2D description of the flat-panel detector would be sufficient for the forward model (i.e., the image formation process) of an iterative correction algorithm, both in terms of energy and incidence angle of incoming photons. Results show that both object and detector secondary radiations have to be considered in CBCT. The correction algorithm iteratively compensates for the secondary radiations and the beam hardening in object space. Preliminary results on tomographic acquisitions demonstrate a quantitative improvement on the first iteration.