Speaker
Description
Motivation: Spectral photon counting CT (SPCCT) is widely accepted as a major medical advancement, bringing the potential for quantitative molecular imaging at higher speeds than conventional approaches. Realising this potential is currently limited by the cost and spectral performance of the semiconductors used for the sensor material, e.g. CdTe. Recently, interest has grown around scintillators as an alternative, as whilst they lack the high intrinsic energy resolution of CdTe, they do not suffer from the extensive low energy tailing seen in small pixelated semiconductor detectors. As SPCCT uses broad energy bins, it is not immediately clear whether a higher spectral resolution (semiconductors)or less low energy tailing (scintillators) is more important for quantitative SPCCT applications. Here we use detailed simulations to answer this question.
Methodology: This work uses PC-SIM (Photon Counting Spectral Imaging Model), a new, modular tool for detailed simulations of SPCCT image processing chains. We combine this with Monte Carlo simulations performed in GATE to compare scintillators and semiconductors under a range of imaging conditions.
Results: Comparisons of spectral performance between scintillator and semiconductor based SPCCT systems will be used to identify any conditions under which scintillator performance can compete with the current gold standard of semiconductor based detectors. This presentation will also serve as an introduction to PC-SIM, outlining its design philosophy and its editable modules which allow users to rapidly model the impact of their ideas on a realistic SPCCT system