Development and operation of a prototype cone-beam computed tomography system for X-ray medical imaging

BACKGROUND: The time of flight (TOF) cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) was recently shown to reduce the X-ray scattering effects by 95%and improve the image CNR by 110%for large volume objects. The advancements in X-ray sources like in compact Free Electron Lasers (FEL) and advancements in detector technology show potential for the TOF method to be feasible in CBCT when imaging large objects. OBJECTIVE: To investigate feasibility and efficacy of TOF CBCT in imaging smaller objects with different targets such as bones and tumors embedded inside the background. METHODS: The TOF method used in this work was verified using a 24cm phantom. Then, the GATE software was used to simulate the CBCT imaging of an 8 cm diameter cylindrical water phantom with two bone targets using a modeled 20 keV quasi-energetic FEL source and various TOF resolutions ranging from 1 to 1000 ps. An inhomogeneous breast phantom of similar size with tumor targets was also imaged using the same system setup. RESULTS: The same results were obtained in the 24cm phantom, which validated the applied CBCT simulation approach. For the case of 8cm cylindrical phantom and bone target, a TOF resolution of 10 ps improved the image contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) by 57%and reduced the scatter-to-primary ratio (SPR) by 8.63. For the case of breast phantom and tumor target, image CNR was enhanced by 12%and SPR was reduced by 1.35 at 5 ps temporal resolution. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that a TOF resolution below 10 ps is required to observe notable enhancements in the image quality and scatter reduction for small objects around 8cm in diameter. The strong scattering targets such as bone can result in substantial improvements by using TOF CBCT.

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Workflow-Based Design and Evaluation of a Device for CBCT-Guided Biopsy

Journal of Medical Devices ◽

10.1115/1.4050660 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

Author(s):

A. Pfeil ◽

L. Barbé ◽

F. Geiskopf ◽

R. L. Cazzato ◽

P. Renaud

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Remote Control ◽

Cone Beam Computed Tomography ◽

Added Value ◽

Cone Beam ◽

X Ray ◽

Novel Device ◽

Robotic Devices ◽

Mechanical Devices ◽

Personalized Cancer

Abstract Biopsies for personalized cancer care can be performed with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) guidance, but manual needle manipulation remains an issue due to X-ray exposure to physicians. Modern CBCT scanners integrate today real-time imaging and software assistance for needle planning. In this paper, these available features are exploited to design a novel device offering an intermediate level of assistance between simple passive mechanical devices of limited efficiency, and advanced robotic devices requiring adapted procedure workflows. Our resulting system is built to limit its impact on the current manual practice. It is patient-mounted and provides remote control of needle orientation and insertion. A multilayer phantom is specifically developed to reproduce interactions between the needle and soft abdominal tissues. It is used to experimentally evaluate the device added value by comparing assisted versus manual needle insertions. The device is shown to help reducing X-ray exposure by a factor 4, without impacting the accuracy obtained manually.

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Quantitative measurement of gas hold-up distribution in a stirred chemical reactor using X-ray cone-beam computed tomography

Chemical Engineering Journal ◽

10.1016/j.cej.2007.08.014 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 139 (2) ◽

pp. 351-362 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Stephan Boden ◽

Martina Bieberle ◽

Uwe Hampel

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Cone Beam Computed Tomography ◽

Quantitative Measurement ◽

Chemical Reactor ◽

Cone Beam ◽

X Ray

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Optimization of x-ray imaging geometry (with specific application to flat-panel cone-beam computed tomography)

Medical Physics ◽

10.1118/1.1286590 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 27 (8) ◽

pp. 1903-1914 ◽

Cited By ~ 148

Author(s):

Jeffrey H. Siewerdsen ◽

David A. Jaffray

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Cone Beam Computed Tomography ◽

Cone Beam ◽

Flat Panel ◽

X Ray ◽

Imaging Geometry ◽

X Ray Imaging

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Comparison of Online 6 Degree-of-Freedom Image Registration of Varian TrueBeam Cone-Beam CT and BrainLab ExacTrac X-Ray for Intracranial Radiosurgery

Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment ◽

10.1177/1533034616683069 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 339-343 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jun Li ◽

Wenyin Shi ◽

David Andrews ◽

Maria Werner-Wasik ◽

Bo Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Image Registration ◽

Cone Beam Computed Tomography ◽

Residual Error ◽

Degree Of Freedom ◽

Cone Beam ◽

Patient Study ◽

X Ray ◽

Average Residual ◽

Image Registrations

Purpose: The study was aimed to compare online 6 degree-of-freedom image registrations of TrueBeam cone-beam computed tomography and BrainLab ExacTrac X-ray imaging systems for intracranial radiosurgery. Methods: Phantom and patient studies were performed on a Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator (version 2.5), which is integrated with a BrainLab ExacTrac imaging system (version 6.1.1). The phantom study was based on a Rando head phantom and was designed to evaluate isocenter location dependence of the image registrations. Ten isocenters at various locations representing clinical treatment sites were selected in the phantom. Cone-beam computed tomography and ExacTrac X-ray images were taken when the phantom was located at each isocenter. The patient study included 34 patients. Cone-beam computed tomography and ExacTrac X-ray images were taken at each patient’s treatment position. The 6 degree-of-freedom image registrations were performed on cone-beam computed tomography and ExacTrac, and residual errors calculated from cone-beam computed tomography and ExacTrac were compared. Results: In the phantom study, the average residual error differences (absolute values) between cone-beam computed tomography and ExacTrac image registrations were 0.17 ± 0.11 mm, 0.36 ± 0.20 mm, and 0.25 ± 0.11 mm in the vertical, longitudinal, and lateral directions, respectively. The average residual error differences in the rotation, roll, and pitch were 0.34° ± 0.08°, 0.13° ± 0.09°, and 0.12° ± 0.10°, respectively. In the patient study, the average residual error differences in the vertical, longitudinal, and lateral directions were 0.20 ± 0.16 mm, 0.30 ± 0.18 mm, 0.21 ± 0.18 mm, respectively. The average residual error differences in the rotation, roll, and pitch were 0.40°± 0.16°, 0.17° ± 0.13°, and 0.20° ± 0.14°, respectively. Overall, the average residual error differences were <0.4 mm in the translational directions and <0.5° in the rotational directions. ExacTrac X-ray image registration is comparable to TrueBeam cone-beam computed tomography image registration in intracranial treatments.

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3D Nondestructive Visualization and Evaluation of TRISO Particles Distribution in HTGR Fuel Pebbles Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations ◽

10.1155/2017/3857075 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Gongyi Yu ◽

Yi Du ◽

Xincheng Xiang ◽

Yuan Liu ◽

Ziqiang Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Cone Beam Computed Tomography ◽

3D Visualization ◽

Production Quality ◽

Cone Beam ◽

Production Quality Control ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

X Ray ◽

Projection Images ◽

Triso Particles

A nonuniform distribution of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particles within a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) pebble may lead to excessive thermal gradients and nonuniform thermal expansion during operation. If the particles are closely clustered, local hotspots may form, leading to excessive stresses on particle layers and an increased probability of particle failure. Although X-ray digital radiography (DR) is currently used to evaluate the TRISO distributions in pebbles, X-ray DR projection images are two-dimensional in nature, which would potentially miss some details for 3D evaluation. This paper proposes a method of 3D visualization and evaluation of the TRISO distribution in HTGR pebbles using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT): first, a pebble is scanned on our high-resolution CBCT, and 2D cross-sectional images are reconstructed; secondly, all cross-sectional images are restructured to form the 3D model of the pebble; then, volume rendering is applied to segment and display the TRISO particles in 3D for visualization and distribution evaluation. For method validation, several pebbles were scanned and the 3D distributions of the TRISO particles within the pebbles were produced. Experiment results show that the proposed method provides more 3D than DR, which will facilitate pebble fabrication research and production quality control.

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