Optimizing dual energy cone beam CT protocols for preclinical imaging and radiation research

Abstract

Quantitative DECT imaging is feasible for small animal irradiators with an integrated CBCT system. To obtain the best results, optimizing the imaging protocols is required. Well-separated X-ray spectra and a sufficient dose level should be used to minimize the error and noise for Z and ρ. When no BHC is applied in the image reconstruction, the size of the calibration phantom should match the size of the imaged object to limit the influence of beam hardening effects. No significant differences in Z and ρ errors are observed between the two systems from different manufacturers. Advances in knowledge: This is the first study that investigates quantitative DECT imaging for small animal irradiators with an integrated CBCT system.

Tumour and normal tissue radiobiology in mouse models: how close are mice to mini-humans?

“…48,49 Recently, some advances were reported on motion management 33 and beam gating, 50 as well as progress in imaging, e.g. bioluminescence, 51,52 optical imaging and dualenergy CT. 53 These techniques, fully integrated in the novel precision irradiation cabinets, will be required to allow sophisticated radiation research that can be translated to the human level.…”

Current state and future applications of radiological image guidance for particle therapy

“…[69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78] Recently in-room CT scanners with DECT capability have become available, and several centers are now equipped with the technology. 79 The implementation of dual energy for CBCT has also been investigated, [80][81][82][83][84] however, the applicability to particle therapy remains to be evaluated. Currently the main interest for the use of DECT in particle therapy is SPR uncertainty reduction at treatment planning, and the availability of the technique in-room would ensure that WET computations or re-planning procedures are performed at the same level of accuracy.…”

Murine vs human tissue compositions: implications of using human tissue compositions for photon energy absorption in mice

“…This combination was determined to be optimal in terms of Z eff and ρ e errors, as shown in a previous study. 15 The acquired images were reconstructed using the Feldkamp backprojection algorithm that is implemented in an in-house developed software platform for preclinical CBCT image reconstruction, built using the open source software RTK (Creatis, Lyon, France). 16,17 The DECT imaging protocols are summarized in Table 1.…”

“…The procedure to calibrate for Z eff and ρ e was adopted from a previous study. 15 A mouse-sized phantom with 12 cylindrical inserts (SmART Scientific Solutions, Maastricht, Netherlands) was used to establish a calibration curve for both Z eff and ρ e . Z eff images were calculated using the tissue substitute method described by Landry et al and ρ e images were calculated using a method described by Saito.…”