MARS imaging : Computational methods for material decomposition

Type of content
Reports
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Bachelor of Science with Honours
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Mathematics and Statistics
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Language
Date
2012
Authors
Bateman, Christopher J.
Abstract

The MARS (Medipix All Resolution System) research group is developing a CT (Computed Tomography) scanner which uses the Medipix range of energy discriminating photon counting detectors. These detectors have the potential to significantly improve the functionality of medical scanners and reduce patient radiation exposure. An image processing technique that benefits from this type of detector is material decomposition. The goal of material decomposition is to take data obtained at different energies and produce material density maps of each material in the scanned region. This project contains the start of preliminary investigations into using compressive sensing as a method for material decomposition in the MARS Spectral CT Scanner system. L1 - Minimization methods from the YALL1 open source l1 optimization package are currently being tested on phantom data representing 7 different medically relevant materials - Air, vVater, Perspex, Calcium, Iron, Iodine and Fat. Calcium, Iron, Iodine and Fat were expressed in the phantom by the compounds Calcium Chloride (aq) [2M], Ferric Nitrate (aq) [0.4M], Iodine (aq) [0.02M] and Sunflower Oil. More results are needed to draw firm conclusions about the viability of this method, however initial results on simulated data shown in this report are promising.

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Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Field of Research::08 - Information and Computing Sciences::0802 - Computation Theory and Mathematics
Field of Research::11 - Medical and Health Sciences::1103 - Clinical Sciences::110320 - Radiology and Organ Imaging
Field of Research::09 - Engineering::0903 - Biomedical Engineering
Rights
Copyright Christopher J. Bateman