Experimental validation of L-shell x-ray fluorescence computed tomography imaging: phantom study

Magdalena Bazalova-Carter; Moiz Ahmad; Lei Xing; Rebecca Fahrig

doi:10.1117/1.JMI.2.4.043501

8 October 2015 Experimental validation of L-shell x-ray fluorescence computed tomography imaging: phantom study

Magdalena Bazalova-Carter, Moiz Ahmad, Lei Xing, Rebecca Fahrig

Author Affiliations +

Funded by: NIBIB, US National Institutes of Health (NIH), NCI

Journal of Medical Imaging, Vol. 2, Issue 4, 043501 (October 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMI.2.4.043501

Abstract

Thanks to the current advances in nanoscience, molecular biochemistry, and x-ray detector technology, x-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) has been considered for molecular imaging of probes containing high atomic number elements, such as gold nanoparticles. The commonly used XFCT imaging performed with K-shell x rays appears to have insufficient imaging sensitivity to detect the low gold concentrations observed in small animal studies. Low energy fluorescence L-shell x rays have exhibited higher signal-to-background ratio and appeared as a promising XFCT mode with greatly enhanced sensitivity. The aim of this work was to experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of L-shell XFCT imaging and to assess its achievable sensitivity. We built an experimental L-shell XFCT imaging system consisting of a miniature x-ray tube and two spectrometers, a silicon drift detector (SDD), and a CdTe detector placed at ±120 deg with respect to the excitation beam. We imaged a 28-mm-diameter water phantom with 4-mm-diameter Eppendorf tubes containing gold solutions with concentrations of 0.06 to 0.1% Au. While all Au vials were detectable in the SDD L-shell XFCT image, none of the vials were visible in the CdTe L-shell XFCT image. The detectability limit of the presented L-shell XFCT SDD imaging setup was 0.007% Au, a concentration observed in small animal studies.

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Magdalena Bazalova-Carter, Moiz Ahmad, Lei Xing, and Rebecca Fahrig "Experimental validation of L-shell x-ray fluorescence computed tomography imaging: phantom study," Journal of Medical Imaging 2(4), 043501 (8 October 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMI.2.4.043501

Published: 8 October 2015

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