Photon-Counting Spectral CT to Reduce Dose and Detect Early Vascular Disease

光子计数能谱 CT 可减少剂量并检测早期血管疾病

• 批准号: 9133377
• 负责人: Cynthia H McCollough
• 金额: $ 112.5万
• 依托单位: MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-30 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9133377
• 关键词: Adoption; Affect; Algorithms; Arterial Fatty Streak; Arteries; Arteriogram; Atherosclerosis; Biomedical Engineering; Blood Vessels; Cadaver; Calcium; Cardiac; Cardiovascular system; Clinic; Clinical; Collaborations; Contrast Media; Data; Development; Discrimination; Disease; Dose; Early Diagnosis; Electronics; Engineering; Family suidae; Fibrosis; Goals; Health; Healthcare; Heart; Human; Image; Imaging technology; Individual; Iodine; Iron; Knowledge; Lipids; Location; Low Dose Radiation; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Measures; Methods; Myocardial Infarction; Noise; Patients; Photons; Physicians; Process; Radiation; Radioisotopes; Radionuclide Imaging; Radionuclide-Computed Tomography; Research; Resolution; Ruptured Aneurysm; Scanning; Scientist; Sensitivity and Specificity; Specimen; Staging; Stenosis; Stroke; System; Techniques; Technology; Thrombosis; Tomography, Computed, Scanners; Vascular Diseases; Width; X-Ray Computed Tomography; base; calcification; clinical application; density; design; detector; effective therapy; experience; imaging modality; improved; industry partner; innovation; neovascularization; non-invasive imaging; photon-counting detector; prototype; quantum; reconstruction; spectral energy; spectrograph; statistics; success; temporal measurement; vasa vasorum

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our long-term objective is to non-invasively detect atherosclerosis in its earliest stages, before symptomatic consequences occur, as well as to optimize spectral CT for ultimate clinical use. The goal of this proposal is to use photon-counting-detector-based spectral CT to provide the required spatial resolution and material discrimination sensitivity at much lower radiation doses than would be possible using integrating-detector- based conventional CT. The significance of achieving this goal is that effective treatment of the pathological mechanism(s) affecting the vascular wall, prior to irreversible consequences such as myocardial infarction or stroke, would be considerably more effective, and less expensive, at both the individual and societal levels. Further, our proposed studies will provide knowledge essential for reducing the radiation doses required in routine CT imaging and for other applications of spectral CT that require increased sensitivity for material discrimination . The innovation of this project lies in the use of a photon-counting-detector-based whole-body CT scanner to develop and validate the needed acquisition, reconstruction, and processing techniques. The rationale for using spectral CT is that it offers improved spatio-temporal resolution over other non-invasive methods, such as 3D MRI and radionuclide imaging, is less affected by partial volume averaging than conventional CT, and is capable of discriminating and quantifying the concentration of all relevant plaque components. Also, the effects of electronic noise on spectral CT using photon-counting detectors are negligible. This is important because breaking the x-ray spectrum into the small energy bins needed for improved material discrimination sensitivity drastically reduces the photon counts per bin. Further, noise reduction methods that exploit energy domain correlations can be used to increase the sensitivity to low concentrations of materials. Thus, increased radiation exposures will not be required. Use of narrow spectral energy bins also greatly reduces the local beam hardening effects due to arterial wall calcification and/or intraluminal contrast. The specific aims that wil enable us to achieve our goal are: AIM 1 - Develop optimized acquisition, reconstruction and processing techniques for whole-body spectral CT with photon-counting detector technology. We will fully characterize the spectral CT system; determine the optimal number, width and location of energy bins; implement and evaluate noise reduction algorithms and algorithms to discriminate and quantify the concentration of co-localized plaque components; and determine system accuracy and evaluate the impact of partial volume averaging. AIM 2 - Determine the sensitivity and specificity of whole-body spectral CT for the identification of atherosclerotic plaque components in human cadavers. AIM 3 - In anesthetized pigs, quantify neovascularization in major arterial walls, as an early indicator of atherosclerotic plaque formation, using iodine-based contrast agents.

描述（由申请人提供）：我们的长期目标是在发生症状后果之前，最早的阶段非侵入性检测动脉粥样硬化，并优化光谱CT以供最终临床使用。该提案的目的是使用基于光子计数器检测器的光谱CT来提供所需的空间分辨率和材料歧视敏感性在辐射剂量下的辐射剂量要比使用基于集成检测器基于检测器的常规CT的可能性要低得多。实现这一目标的意义在于，在不可逆的后果（例如心肌梗死或中风）之前，影响血管壁的病理机制的有效治疗将在个人和社会水平上都更加有效，并且更便宜。此外，我们提出的研究将为减少常规CT成像中所需的辐射剂量以及光谱CT的其他应用所需的辐射剂量提供必不可少的知识，这些辐射剂量需要提高对材料歧视的敏感性。该项目的创新在于使用基于光子计算器的使用 全身CT扫描仪开发和验证所需的采集，重建和处理技术。使用频谱CT的理由是，它比其他非侵入性方法（例如3D MRI和放射性核素成像）提供了改进的时空分辨率，而不是传统CT的影响较小，并且能够区分和量化所有相关的Plaque Plaque成分的浓度。同样，使用光子计数检测器的电子噪声对光谱CT的影响可以忽略不计。这很重要，因为将X射线光谱分解为改善材料歧视灵敏度所需的小能量箱，大大降低了每个bin的光子计数。此外，可以使用利用能量域相关性的降噪方法来提高对低浓度材料的敏感性。因此，不需要增加辐射暴露。使用狭窄的光谱能箱还大大降低了由于动脉壁钙化和/或腔内对比度引起的局部光束硬化效应。使我们能够实现目标的具体目的是：目标1-使用光子计数检测器技术为全身光谱CT开发优化的采集，重建和处理技术。我们将充分表征光谱CT系统；确定能量箱的最佳数量，宽度和位置；实施和评估降低降低算法和算法，以区分和量化共定位的斑块成分的浓度；并确定系统准确性并评估部分体积平均的影响。 AIM 2-确定全身光谱CT对鉴定人尸体中动脉粥样硬化斑块成分的敏感性和特异性。 AIM 3-在麻醉猪中，使用基于碘的对比剂来定量主要动脉壁中的新血管形成，作为动脉粥样硬化斑块形成的早期指标。