Non-invasive experimental determination of a CT source model

Abstract

Non-invasive methods to determine equivalent X-ray source models of a CT scanner are presented. A high-precision technique called TRIC ("Time Resolved Integrated Charge") was developed and used to characterize the bow tie filters (BT) of the CT scanner installed at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). Aluminum (Al) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) equivalent thicknesses of the BT filters at all tube high voltages were evaluated, assuming that those consist of only one material. Thereby two different dose probes were used, a solid state detector and an ionization chamber, the former characterized by a significant and the latter by an almost negligible energy dependence of the air kerma response. A method was developed to correct for the energy dependence of the solid state dose probe. Next, a two-component material was assumed and equivalent BT filters were evaluated. The latter method was also applied using the known real BT filter materials and compared with the shape of the real BT filters. Finally, the results obtained by the TRIC method were compared with those obtained by using the so-called COBRA method ("Characterization Of Bow tie Relative Attenuation"), the latter being more suitable for measurements in a clinical environment.