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Methods for Spectral CT Imaging

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Computed Tomography

Abstract

From the earliest days of X-ray computed tomography (CT), it was realized that measurements made with different X-ray spectra could be used to differentiate materials having different atomic numbers. Successful implementation of this technique, often referred to as dual-energy CT, has occurred over the last decade (circa 2009–2019), bringing with it new clinical capabilities. Dual-energy data can be acquired using a number of different techniques, some of which use only a single tube potential and some of which use two tube potential settings. Additionally, while some techniques can be performed without changes in acquisition hardware, others require the use of novel detectors, X-ray beam filters, or even a second source-detector system. Further, after acquisition, a number of different types of images can be formed, including the low- and high-energy spectral images, mixed images that combine these two data sets, material-specific images, and energy-specific images.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank colleagues from the Mayo Clinic for their collaboration on dual- and multi-energy CT over the course of many years, including Drs. J.G. Fletcher, Lifeng Yu, Shuai Leng, Amy Kotsenas, Terri Vrtiska, Katie Glazebrook, and Liqiang Ren. She would also like to thank Drs. Thomas Flohr and Bernhard Schmidt, for their collaboration on this topic, and Ms. Kris Nunez, for her expert assistance in manuscript and figure preparation.

Disclosure

Dr. McCollough is the principal investigator of a research grant to the Mayo Clinic from Siemens Healthineers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Cynthia H. McCollough

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  1. Cynthia H. McCollough
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Correspondence to Cynthia H. McCollough .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Ehsan Samei

  2. Department of Bioengineering and Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Norbert J. Pelc

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McCollough, C.H. (2020). Methods for Spectral CT Imaging. In: Samei, E., Pelc, N. (eds) Computed Tomography . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26957-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26957-9_12

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