WE‐EF‐207‐10: Striped Ratio Grids: A New Concept for Scatter Estimation

Abstract

Purpose:To propose a new method for estimating scatter in x‐ray imaging. We propose the “striped ratio grid,” an anti‐scatter grid with alternating stripes of high scatter rejection (attained, for example, by high grid ratio) and low scatter rejection. To minimize artifacts, stripes are oriented parallel to the direction of the ramp filter. Signal discontinuities at the boundaries between stripes provide information on local scatter content, although these discontinuities are contaminated by variation in primary radiation.Methods:We emulated a striped ratio grid by imaging phantoms with two sequential CT scans, one with and one without a conventional grid, and processed them together to mimic a striped ratio grid. Two phantoms were scanned with the emulated striped ratio grid and compared with a conventional anti‐scatter grid and a fan‐beam acquisition, which served as ground truth. A nonlinear image processing algorithm was developed to mitigate the problem of primary variation.Results:The emulated striped ratio grid reduced scatter more effectively than the conventional grid alone. Contrast is thereby improved in projection imaging. In CT imaging, cupping is markedly reduced. Artifacts introduced by the striped ratio grid appear to be minimal.Conclusion:Striped ratio grids could be a simple and effective evolution of conventional anti‐scatter grids. Unlike several other approaches currently under investigation for scatter management, striped ratio grids require minimal computation, little new hardware (at least for systems which already use removable grids) and impose few assumptions on the nature of the object being scanned.