Comparison of spectral CT imaging methods based a photon-counting detector: Experimental study

Photon-counting detectors allow spectral computed tomography (CT) imaging using energy-resolved information from a polychromatic X-ray spectrum. The spectral CT images based on the photon-counting detectors are dependent on the energy ranges defined by energy bins for image acquisition. In this study, K-edge and energy weighting imaging methods were experimentally implemented by using a spectral CT system with a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT)-based photon-counting detector. The spectral CT images were obtained by various energy bins and compared in terms of CNR improvement for investigating the effect of energy bins and the efficiency of the spectral CT imaging methods. The results showed that the spectral CT image quality was improved by using the particular energy bins, which were optimized for each spectral CT imaging method and target material. The CNR improvement was different for the spectral CT imaging methods and target materials. It can be concluded that an appropriate selection of imaging method for each target material and the optimization of energy bin can maximize the quality of spectral CT images.