Spatial Resolution Of CT Images Research Articles

Super resolution deep learning reconstruction for coronary CT angiography: A structured phantom study

PurposeSuper-resolution deep-learning-based reconstruction: SR-DLR is a newly developed and clinically available deep-learning-based image reconstruction method that can improve the spatial resolution of CT images. The image quality of the output from non-linear image reconstructions, such as DLR, is known to vary depending on the structure of the object being scanned, and a simple phantom cannot explicitly evaluate the clinical performance of SR-DLR. This study aims to accurately investigate the quality of the images reconstructed by SR-DLR by utilizing a structured phantom that simulates the human anatomy in coronary CT angiography. MethodsThe structural phantom had ribs and vertebrae made of plaster, a left ventricle filled with dilute contrast medium, a coronary artery with simulated stenosis, and an implanted stent graft. By scanning the structured phantom, we evaluated noise and spatial resolution on the images reconstructed with SR-DLR and conventional reconstructions. ResultsThe spatial resolution of SR-DLR was higher than conventional reconstructions; the 10 % modulation transfer function of hybrid IR (HIR), DLR, and SR-DLR were 0.792-, 0.976-, and 1.379 cycle/mm, respectively. At the same time, image noise was lowest (HIR: 21.1-, DLR: 19.0-, and SR-DLR: 13.1 HU). SR-DLR could accurately assess coronary artery stenosis and the lumen of the implanted stent graft. ConclusionsSR-DLR can obtain CT images with high spatial resolution and lower noise without special CT equipments, and will help diagnose coronary artery disease in CCTA and other CT examinations that require high spatial resolution.

CT Image Features Based on the Reconstruction Algorithm for Continuous Blood Purification Combined with Nursing Intervention in the Treatment of Severe Acute Pancreatitis.

The aim of the study was to explore the CT images of the iterative reconstruction algorithm to evaluate the curative effect of continuous blood purification combined with nursing intervention in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). A total of 100 patients with SAP treated by the bedside continuous venous hemofiltration purification method in a hospital were selected. The control group (n = 50) was given a routine treatment, and the observation group (n = 50) was treated with the continuous blood filtration mode for blood purification based on the routine treatment. In the CT image scanning of periodontitis patients, the iterative reconstruction algorithm was introduced to reduce image noise, and the CT values under the algorithm were statistically analyzed. The results showed that IL-1, IL-6, and IL-8 after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05). The symptoms effectively improved with continuous blood purification combined with nursing intervention in patients with SAP. After the use of the iterative reconstruction algorithm, the image quality, image information, and image MSE significantly improved. The image noise with 50% dose reduction was the lowest, but the reconstruction algorithm improved the low contrast resolution (P < 0.05). CT images based on the reconstruction algorithm can clearly display the lesion characteristics of the patients, and the reconstruction algorithm is feasible to improve the spatial resolution of CT images.

An algorithm for automated modulation transfer function measurement using an edge of a PMMA phantom: Impact of field of view on spatial resolution of CT images.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to introduce a new algorithm for automated measurement of the modulation transfer function (MTF) using an edge of a readily available phantom and to evaluate the effect of reconstruction filter and field of view (FOV) on the spatial resolution in the CT images.MethodsOur automated MTF measurement consisted of several steps. The center of the image was established and an appropriate region of interest (ROI) designated. The edge spread function (ESF) was determined, and a suitably interpolated ESF curve was differentiated to obtain the line spread function (LSF). The LSF was Fourier transformed to obtain the MTF. All these steps were accomplished automatically without user intervention. The results of the automated MTF from the edge phantom were validated by comparing them with a point image, and the results of the automated calculation were validated by the standard fitting method. The automated MTF calculation was then applied to the images of two polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) phantoms and a wire phantom which had been scanned by a Toshiba Alexion 4‐slice CT scanner and reconstructed with various filter types and FOVs.ResultsThe difference in the 50% MTF values obtained from the edge and point phantoms were within ±4%. The values from the automated and fitted methods agreed to within ±2%, indicating that the automated MTF calculation was accurate. The automated MTF calculation was able to differentiate MTF curves for various filters. The spatial resolution values were 0.37 ± 0.00, 0.71 ± 0.01, and 0.78 ± 0.01 cycles/mm for FC13, FC30 and FC52 filters, respectively. The spatial resolution of the images decrease linearly (R 2 > 0.98) with increasing FOVs.ConclusionAn automated MTF method was successfully developed using an edge phantom, the PMMA phantom. The method is easy to implement in a clinical environment and is not influenced by user experience.

Study of the Microfocus X-Ray Tube Based on a Point-Like Target Used for Micro-Computed Tomography.

For a micro-Computed Tomography (Micro-CT) system, the microfocus X-ray tube is an essential component because the spatial resolution of CT images, in theory, is mainly determined by the size and stability of the X-ray focal spot of the microfocus X-ray tube. However, many factors, including voltage fluctuations, mechanical vibrations, and temperature changes, can cause the size and the stability of the X-ray focal spot to degrade. A new microfocus X-ray tube based on a point-like micro-target in which the X-ray target is irradiated with an unfocused electron beam was investigated. EGS4 Monte Carlo simulation code was employed for the calculation of the X-ray intensity produced from the point-like micro-target and the substrate. The effects of several arrangements of the target material, target and beam size were studied. The simulation results demonstrated that if the intensity of X-rays generated at the point-like target is greater than half of the X-ray intensity produced on the substrate, the X-ray focal spot is determined in part by the point-like target rather than by the electron beam in the conventional X-ray tube. In theory, since it is able to reduce those unfavorable effects such as the electron beam trajectory swinging and the beam size changing for the microfocus X-ray tube, it could alleviate CT image artifacts caused by the X-ray focal spot shift and size change.

Vacuum phenomenon.

This article describes the theory of the formation of the vacuum phenomenon (VP), the detection of the VP, the different medical causes, the different locations of the presentation of the VP, and the differential diagnoses. In the human body, the cavitation effect is recognized on radiological studies; it is called the VP. The mechanism responsible for the formation of the VP is as follows: if an enclosed tissue space is allowed to expand as a rebound phenomenon after an external impact, the volume within the enclosed space will increase. In the setting of expanding volume, the pressure within the space will decrease. The solubility of the gas in the enclosed space will decrease as the pressure of the space decreases. Decreased solubility allows a gas to leave a solution. Clinically, the pathologies associated with the VP have been reported to mainly include the normal joint motion, degeneration of the intervertebral discs or joints, and trauma. The frequent use of CT for trauma patients and the high spatial resolution of CT images might produce the greatest number of chances to detect the VP in trauma patients. The VP is observed at locations that experience a traumatic impact; thus, an analysis of the VP may be useful for elucidating the mechanism of an injury. When the VP is located in the abdomen, it is important to include perforation of the digestive tract in the differential diagnosis. The presence of the VP in trauma patients does not itself influence the final outcome.

Degradation of proton depth dose distributions attributable to microstructures in lung-equivalent material.

The purpose of the work reported here was to investigate the influence of sub-millimeter size heterogeneities on the degradation of the distal edges of proton beams and to validate Monte Carlo (MC) methods' ability to correctly predict such degradation. A custom-designed high-resolution plastic phantom approximating highly heterogeneous, lung-like structures was employed in measurements and in Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the degradation of proton Bragg curves penetrating heterogeneous media. Significant differences in distal falloff widths and in peak dose values were observed in the measured and the Monte Carlo simulated curves compared to pristine proton Bragg curves. Furthermore, differences between simulations of beams penetrating CT images of the phantom did not agree well with the corresponding experimental differences. The distal falloff widths in CT image-based geometries were underestimated by up to 0.2 cm in water (corresponding to 0.8-1.4 cm in lung tissue), and the peak dose values of pristine proton beams were overestimated by as much as ˜35% compared to measured curves or depth-dose curves simulated on the basis of true geometry. The authors demonstrate that these discrepancies were caused by the limited spatial resolution of CT images that served as a basis for dose calculations and lead to underestimation of the impact of the fine structure of tissue heterogeneities. A convolution model was successfully applied to mitigate the underestimation. The results of this study justify further development of models to better represent heterogeneity effects in soft-tissue geometries, such as lung, and to correct systematic underestimation of the degradation of the distal edge of proton doses.

The influence of focal spot blooming on high-contrast spatial resolution in CT imaging.

The objective of this work was to investigate focal spot blooming effects on the spatial resolution of CT images and to evaluate an x-ray tube that uses dynamic focal spot control for minimizing focal spot blooming. The influence of increasing tube current at a fixed tube potential of 80 kV on high-contrast spatial resolution of seven different CT scanner models (scanners A-G), including one scanner that uses dynamic focal spot control to reduce focal spot blooming (scanner A), was evaluated. Spatial resolution was assessed using a wire phantom for the modulation transfer function (MTF) calculation and a copper disc phantom for measuring the slice sensitivity profile (SSP). The impact of varying the tube potential was investigated on two scanner models (scanners A and B) by measuring the MTF and SSP and also by using the resolution bar pattern module of the ACR CT phantom. The phantoms were scanned at 70-150 kV on scanner A and 80-140 kV on scanner B, with tube currents from 100 mA up to the maximum tube current available on each scanner. The images were reconstructed using a slice thickness of 0.6 mm with both smooth and sharp kernels. Additionally, focal spot size at varying tube potentials and currents was directly measured using pinhole and slit camera techniques. Evaluation of the MTF and SSP data from the 7 CT scanner models evaluated demonstrated decreased focal spot blooming for newer scanners, as evidenced by decreasing deviations in MTF and SSP as tube current varied. For scanners A and B, where focal spot blooming effects as a function of tube potential were assessed, the spatial resolution variation in the axial plane was much smaller on scanner A compared to scanner B as tube potential and current changed. On scanner A, the 50% MTF never decreased by more than 2% from the 50% MTF measured at 100 mA. On scanner B, the 50% MTF decreased by as much as 19% from the 50% MTF measured at 100 mA. Assessments of the SSP, the bar patterns in the ACR phantom and the pinhole and slit camera measurements were consistent with the MTF calculations. Focal spot blooming has a noticeable effect on spatial resolution in CT imaging. The focal spot shaping technology of scanner A greatly reduced blooming effects.

Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) in clinical CT systems. Part II. Experimental assessment of spatial resolution performance.

Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) methods have been introduced to clinical CT systems and are being used in some clinical diagnostic applications. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally assess the unique spatial resolution characteristics of this nonlinear reconstruction method and identify its potential impact on the detectabilities and the associated radiation dose levels for specific imaging tasks. The thoracic section of a pediatric phantom was repeatedly scanned 50 or 100 times using a 64-slice clinical CT scanner at four different dose levels [CTDIvol =4, 8, 12, 16 (mGy)]. Both filtered backprojection (FBP) and MBIR (Veo(®), GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI) were used for image reconstruction and results were compared with one another. Eight test objects in the phantom with contrast levels ranging from 13 to 1710 HU were used to assess spatial resolution. The axial spatial resolution was quantified with the point spread function (PSF), while the z resolution was quantified with the slice sensitivity profile. Both were measured locally on the test objects and in the image domain. The dependence of spatial resolution on contrast and dose levels was studied. The study also features a systematic investigation of the potential trade-off between spatial resolution and locally defined noise and their joint impact on the overall image quality, which was quantified by the image domain-based channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) detectability index d'. (1) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR depends on both radiation dose level and image contrast level, whereas it is supposedly independent of these two factors in FBP. The axial spatial resolution of MBIR always improved with an increasing radiation dose level and/or contrast level. (2) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR became equivalent to that of FBP at some transitional contrast level, above which MBIR demonstrated superior spatial resolution than FBP (and vice versa); the value of this transitional contrast highly depended on the dose level. (3) The PSFs of MBIR could be approximated as Gaussian functions with reasonably good accuracy. (4) Thez resolution of MBIR showed similar contrast and dose dependence. (5) Noise standard deviation assessed on the edges of objects demonstrated a trade-off with spatial resolution in MBIR. (5) When both spatial resolution and image noise were considered using the CHO analysis, MBIR led to significant improvement in the overall CT image quality for both high and low contrast detection tasks at both standard and low dose levels. Due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the MBIR method, many well-known CT spatial resolution and noise properties have been modified. In particular, dose dependence and contrast dependence have been introduced to the spatial resolution of CT images by MBIR. The method has also introduced some novel noise-resolution trade-off not seen in traditional CT images. While the benefits of MBIR regarding the overall image quality, as demonstrated in this work, are significant, the optimal use of this method in clinical practice demands a thorough understanding of its unique physical characteristics.

An approach to increasing the resolution of industrial CT images based on an aperture collimator

The spatial resolution of CT images is dominated by the focal spot size when it is large relative to the detector cells. We propose an approach to increase the spatial resolution by utilizing an aperture collimator. The aperture collimator is specially designed and placed in front of the X-ray source so that the rays penetrating the collimator form a set of narrow fan beams. Then an iterative algorithm is introduced to reconstruct CT images from the data obtained by scanning the narrow fan beams. Numerical experiments show that the proposed approach could significantly increase the resolution of the CT images. Furthermore, this approach is also robust against some challenging cases, such as the examination of low contrast object, reconstruction based on multi-energy data and perturbation of geometric errors in CT systems.

Weighted-averaging Multi-planar Reconstruction Method for Multi-detector Row Computed Tomography

Development of multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) has enabled three-dimensions (3D) scanning with minute voxels. Minute voxels improve spatial resolution of CT images. At the same time, however, they increase image noise. Multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) is one of effective 3D-image processing techniques. The conventional MPR technique can adjust slice thickness of MPR images. When a thick slice is used, the image noise is decreased. In this case, however, spatial resolution is deteriorated. In order to deal with this trade-off problem, we have developed the weighted-averaging multi-planar reconstruction (W-MPR) technique to control the balance between the spatial resolution and noise. The weighted-average is determined by the Gaussian-type weighting function. In this study, we compared the performance of W-MPR with that of conventional simple-addition-averaging MPR. As a result, we could confirm that W-MPR can decrease the image noise without significant deterioration of spatial resolution. W-MPR can adjust freely the weight for each slice by changing the shape of the weighting function. Therefore, W-MPR can allow us to select a proper balance of spatial resolution and noise and at the same time produce suitable MPR images for observation of targeted anatomical structures.

Resolution Dependence of the Non-metric Trabecular Structure Indices

Non-metric indices of topological features of trabecular bone structure, such as structure model index (SMI), connectivity density (Conn.D), and degree of anisotropy (DA), provide unique information relevant to bone quality. With recent technological advancement, in vivo assessment of these indices may be possible from images acquired using high-resolution imaging techniques such as high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT). However, more detailed investigation of the dependence of non-metric indices on spatial resolution is needed to determine their applicability. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these three non-metric indices are affected by the spatial resolution of CT images. First, the SMI, Conn.D, and DA were calculated for trabecular bone specimens with varying plate-like and rod-like structures from resampled µCT images across a range of spatial resolutions and compared to the reference values. To account for differences in size across different species and anatomical sites, the results are reported in normalized resolution units. Next, the impact of resolution on the non-metric indices for cores of human distal tibia trabecular bone from clinical HR-pQCT images was evaluated to determine the applicability of the non-metric indices to in vivo imaging. We found that the non-metric indices of trabecular bone structure were affected by spatial resolution of CT images. Particularly, the SMI deviated from the high-resolution µCT reference value depending on the structure type, whether plate-like or rod-like. Both Conn.D and DA were underestimated in the images obtained at an in vivo resolution. It is not trivial to determine absolute threshold for validity of these non-metric indices without considering a specific study design (e.g. relative resolution, the size of the treatment effect to detect, and specimen type). The results of this study provide an upper bound for the accuracy of the non-metric indices under limited resolution scenarios.