Monte Carlo package for simulating radiographic images of realistic anthropomorphic phantoms described by triangle meshes

摘要

X-ray imaging system optimization increases the benefit-to-cost ratio by reducing the radiation dose to the patient while maximizing image quality. We present a new simulation tool for the generation of realistic medical x-ray images for assessment and optimization of complete imaging systems. The Monte Carlo code simulates radiation transport physics using the subroutine package PENELOPE, which accurately simulates the transport of electrons and photons within the typical medical imaging energy range. The new code implements a novel object-oriented geometry package that allows simulations with homogeneous objects of arbitrary shapes described by triangle meshes. The flexibility of this code, which uses the industry standard PLY input-file format, allows the use of detailed anatomical models developed using computer-aided design tools applied to segmented CT and MRI data. The use of triangle meshes highly simplifies the ray-tracing algorithm without reducing the generality of the code, since most surface models can be tessellated into triangles while retaining their geometric details. Our algorithm incorporates an octree spatial data structure to sort the triangles and accelerate the simulation, reaching execution speeds comparable to the original quadric geometry model of PENELOPE. Coronary an-giograms were simulated using a tessellated version of the NURBS-based Cardiac-Torso (NCAT) phantom. The phantom models 330 objects, comprised in total of 5 million triangles. The dose received by each organ and the contribution of the different scattering processes to the final image were studied in detail.