PurposeWe aim to compare the imaging performance of a cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging system with noncircular scan protocols (sine-on-sphere) to a conventional circular orbit.ApproachA biplane C-arm system (ARTIS Icono; Siemens Healthineers) capable of circular and noncircular CBCT acquisition was used, with the latter orbit (sine-on-sphere, “Sine Spin”) executing a sinusoidal motion with ±10 deg tilt amplitude over the half-scan orbit. A test phantom was used for the characterization of image uniformity, noise, noise-power spectrum (NPS), spatial resolution [modulation transfer function (MTF) in axial and oblique directions], and cone-beam artifacts. Findings were interpreted using an anthropomorphic head phantom with respect to pertinent tasks in skull base neurosurgery.ResultsThe noncircular scan protocol exhibited several advantages associated with improved 3D sampling—evident in the NPS as filling of the null cone about the fz spatial frequency axis and reduction of cone-beam artifacts. The region of support at the longitudinal extrema was reduced from 16 to ∼12 cm at a radial distance of 6.5 cm. Circular and noncircular orbits exhibited nearly identical image uniformity and quantum noise, demonstrating cupping of −16.7% and overall noise of ∼27 HU. Although both the radially averaged axial MTF (fx,y) and 45 deg oblique MTF (fx,y,z) were ∼20% lower for the noncircular orbit compared with the circular orbit at the default full reconstruction field of view (FOV), there was no difference in spatial resolution for the medium reconstruction FOV (smaller voxel size). Differences in the perceptual image quality for the anthropomorphic phantom reinforced the objective, quantitative findings, including reduced beam-hardening and cone-beam artifacts about structures of interest in the skull base.ConclusionsImage quality differences between circular and noncircular CBCT orbits were quantitatively evaluated on a clinical system in the context of neurosurgery. The primary performance advantage for the noncircular orbit was the improved sampling and elimination of cone-beam artifacts.
Phantom-based quality control, the current standard of QC in medical imaging, calibrates image quality at a population level, but does not account for the influence of patient variation on quality. In this work, we present a method to evaluate task-based image quality directly in individual clinical CT exams. Noise power spectrum (NPS) is measured in selected local image regions satisfying linearity and noise stationarity constraints, and globally over the volumetric image. Together with a semi-empirical model of image resolution, NPS is used to calculate noise-equivalent quanta (NEQ), a fundamental metric of image fidelity and information content. The NEQ may be extended to task-based detectability (d’) via a specified task function and model observer. We show that this method can: 1) elucidate intra-patient variations in signal detectability, and 2) task performance variations across a patient population. The method may be implemented in a hospital-wide online system that monitors imaging performance in CT exams in real-time.
To compare the image quality characteristics of a cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging system with noncircular scan protocols (Sine-on-Sphere) to a conventional circular orbit. A phantom was used to assess image uniformity, image noise, and noise-power spectrum (NPS) for a biplane C-arm (Icono; Siemens Healthineers) that could perform CBCT with either a circular or non-circular orbit (Sine-on-Sphere, “SineSpin”). The non-circular orbit used a sinusoidal motion with an amplitude of ±10º during the orbit. Uniformity and quantum noise were similar for the circular and non-circular orbits. A slight increase in cupping artifact for the noncircular orbit was observed and attributed to slightly increased path lengths (increased scatter-to-primary ratio) for oblique rays through the cylindrical phantom. The NPS clearly depicted closing of the “null cone” about the fz spatial frequency axis owing to improved sampling with the non-circular orbit. A non-circular orbit for CBCT resulted in improved sampling with similar noise magnitude and uniformity compared to a circular orbit.
In image-guided radiation therapy of moving lung lesions, four-dimensional cone-beam CT (4D-CBCT) can be used
to produce time-resolved images for tracking the target throughout the breathing cycle. The requirements in 4DCBCT
are short scan time and image quality sufficient to localize the target. Short scans are desirable but result in
image-distorting streak artifacts in 4D-CBCT reconstruction, which may affect image-guidance. Motion-averaged
(also called conventional or 3D) CBCT reconstruction does not suffer from streak artifacts, but lacks the temporal
resolution to depict the tumor breathing motion. We define a new composite four-dimensional volume-of-interest
(4D-VOI) reconstruction which combines the features of pure 4D and motion-averaged reconstruction image sets. A
4D reconstruction is performed inside of a VOI which contains the moving tumor, and the higher quality motionaveraged
reconstruction is performed outside of the VOI. The three image sets (motion-averaged 3D, 4D, and 4DVOI)
are compared. The 3D reconstruction has very few streak artifacts but lacks the temporal resolution to depict
moving structures. On the other hand, the full-4D reconstruction without VOI processing is severely distorted by
streak artifacts. The 4D-VOI reconstruction has good temporal resolution in the volume of interest and low streak
artifact in most of the image.
In image-guided radiation therapy of moving lung lesions,
four-dimensional CBCT (4D-CBCT) can produce several
images of the target through the breathing cycle with good temporal resolution. The requirements in 4D-CBCT are
short scan time and image quality sufficient to localize the target. Short scans are desirable but result in imagedistorting
streak artifacts. We have optimized 4D-CBCT by determining the minimum scan time for adequate image
quality. We scanned 4 patients with long scan times (3.8 - 5.4 minutes) to produce high-quality oversampled data
sets. These serve as the gold standard for image quality assessment. Various shorter scan times were simulated via
removal of projection data from the long scans. The projection data were removed in such a way as to maintain an
accurate number of total breaths for the various simulated scan times. The amount of global streak artifact and the
tumor and bony anatomy shape is assessed for each image set. The original long scans display no major streak
artifacts. The moving structures show no sign of motion blurring and have high contrast boundaries. As the scan
time is reduced, streak artifacts increase. Images for 1.5 - 2 minute scan time have relatively little distortion of
boundaries. At 1 minute or less, the streak artifacts severely distort boundaries and may compromise localization.
We have investigated the relationship between scan parameters and image quality in fourdimensional
cone-beam computed tomography (4D-CBCT) performed with a flat panel imager
in image-guided radiotherapy. We have determined upper bounds on scan time while achieving
objective thresholds of image quality, namely in noise performance and minimization of view
aliasing artifacts. A slow-gantry design for 4D-CBCT was used, in which we slow down clinical
linear accelerator gantry speed from the typical 1.0 rpm speed to 0.1 - 0.125 rpm, to ensure the
projection angle spacing between two consecutive respiratory cycles is less than 3 degrees. A
respiratory monitoring device was used to record the respiratory signal for temporal correlation
of the projection data for 4D-CBCT image reconstruction. Four patient data sets were acquired.
Reference images were reconstructed with all projection data and were compared with images
reconstructed with 50%, 33% and 20% of the projection data. These three partial data
reconstructions are simulations of scans with shorter acquisition times. The main image
degradations in the short scan simulation image sets are streaking artifacts and poor signal to
noise ratio, both caused by sparse projection sampling. The amount of streaking artifacts and
SNR in each image set is quantified. By allowing some streaking artifacts and not compromising
the assessment of tumor motion, we produce images that suggest that a reduction in scan time
from 3 to 6 min to approximately 2 min may be possible, making 4D-CBCT feasible in a clinical
setting.
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