Optimization of shutter scan parameters in digital tomosynthesis system

摘要

In medical imaging field, various dose reduction techniques have been studied. We proposed shutter scan acquisition for region of interest (ROI) imaging to reduce the patient exposure dose in digital tomosynthesis system. Projections obtained by shutter scan acquisition is a combination of truncated projections and non-truncated projections. In this study, we call the number of truncated projections divided by the number of non-truncated projections as shutter weighting factor. The shutter scan acquisition parameters were optimized using 5 different acquisition sets with the shutter weighting factor (0.16, 0.35, 1.03, 3.05 and 7.1). A prototype CDT system (LISTEM, Korea) and the LUNGMAN phantom (Kyoto Kagaku, Japan) with an 8 mm lung nodule were used. A total of 81 projections with shutter scan acquisition were obtained in 5 sets according to shutter weighting factor. The image quality was investigated using the contrast noise ratio (CNR). We also calculated figure of merit (FOM) to determine optimal acquisition parameters for the shutter scan acquisition. The ROI of the reconstructed image with shutter scan acquisition showed enhanced contrast. The highest CNR and FOM value, shutter weighting factor 7.1, is the acquisition set consisting of 71 truncated projections and 10 non-truncated projections. In this study, we investigated the effects of composition ratio of the truncated and non-truncated projections on reconstructed images through the shutter scan acquisition. In addition, the optimal acquisition conditions for the shutter scan acquisition were determined by deriving the FOM values. In conclusion, we can suggest optimal shutter scan acquisition parameters on the lesion within the ROI to be diagnosed.