Charge-sharing-correction for clinical multi-energy CT: Practical implementation on a whole-body photon-counting-detector CT scanner - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Computed tomography (CT) enables fast, non-invasive assessment of vascular anatomy. Vascular plaques, however, have a range of important characteristics that are not currently well visualized with conventional CT. Photon-counting-detector (PCD) CT has markedly improved spatial resolution, which improves assessment of calcified plaques. Multi-energy CT (MECT) is needed, however, to assess the composition of soft plaques, which have the highest likelihood of rupture. Yet, the small detector size of PCD-CT degrades spectral separation due to charge sharing, which in turn degrades MECT analyses. Innovative solutions to the charge sharing problem using coincidence counting technologies have been proposed by our team but require in- depth collaboration with a manufacturer to implement. The overall objective of this proposal is to address charge sharing in PCD-CT. Our approach will use a commercial PCD-CT system and work with our industry partner, Siemens Healthineers, to install, evaluate, and optimize a charge-sharing-correction technique. Together, we will develop the next generation of photon- counting detectors. Our specific goal for this application is to implement, optimize, and validate the next-generation PCD-CT equipped with coincidence-counting-based charge-sharing correction. In this proposal, we will focus on vascular plaque characterization. The charge-sharing correction schemes will be evaluated both in phantoms and human subjects to assess their impact on quantitative measures of plaque components. The significance of our proposal is three-fold. First, the technology developments in Aim 1 and optimization in Aim 2 will benefit all MECT applications, improving the diagnostic capabilities of current applications and enabling new ones. Second, robust quantitative characterization of vascular plaque will be possible in a single, low-radiation-dose, non-invasive exam that will obviate the need for invasive or more expensive alternatives, reducing patient risk and/or the overall cost to individuals and society. Third, the knowledge gained regarding pragmatic implementation of coincidence-counting techniques to correct for charge sharing will be applicable to the fast-growing field of photon-counting detector CT. The innovation of this work is also high. At no cost to the NIH, Siemens Healthineers will install a unique research coincidence-counting PCD that will allow us to methodically evaluate and optimize charge-sharing correction techniques on a commercial CT system. The project will culminate in a first-in-humans study to demonstrate not merely that the images are “better,” as is so often done, but that with charge-sharing corrections, PCD-CT provides clinically significant improvements in the diagnosis and management of patients.
