Contrast-to-noise ratio comparison between X-ray fluorescence emission tomography and computed tomography

Hadley Debrosse, Giavanna Jadick, Ling Jian Meng, Patrick La Rivière

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: We provide a comparison of X-ray fluorescence emission tomography (XFET) and computed tomography (CT) for detecting low concentrations of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in soft tissue and characterize the conditions under which XFET outperforms energy-integrating CT (EICT) and photon-counting CT (PCCT). Approach: We compared dose-matched Monte Carlo XFET simulations and analytical fan-beam EICT and PCCT simulations. Each modality was used to image a numerical mouse phantom and contrast-depth phantom containing GNPs ranging from 0.05% to 4% by weight in soft tissue. Contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) of gold regions were compared among the three modalities, and XFET's detection limit was quantified based on the Rose criterion. A partial field-of-view (FOV) image was acquired for the phantom region containing 0.05% GNPs. Results: For the mouse phantom, XFET produced superior CNR values (CNRs = 24.5, 21.6, and 3.4) compared with CT images obtained with both energyintegrating (CNR = 4.4, 4.6, and 1.5) and photon-counting (CNR = 6.5, 7.7, and 2.0) detection systems. More generally, XFET outperformed CT for superficial imaging depths (<28.75 mm) for gold concentrations at and above 0.5%. XFET's surface detection limit was quantified as 0.44% for an average phantom dose of 16 mGy compatible with in vivo imaging. XFET's ability to image partial FOVs was demonstrated, and 0.05% gold was easily detected with an estimated dose of ∼81.6 cGy to a localized region of interest. Conclusions: We demonstrate a proof of XFET's benefit for imaging low concentrations of gold at superficial depths and the feasibility of XFET for in vivo metal mapping in preclinical imaging tasks.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberS12808
JournalJournal of Medical Imaging
Volume11
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 31 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • X-ray fluorescence computed tomography
  • X-ray fluorescence emission tomography
  • computed tomography
  • contrast-to-noise ratio
  • detection limit

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging

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