Cramér-Rao lower bound in the context of spectral x-ray imaging with propagation-based phase contrast

Giavanna Jadick; Patrick La Rivière

doi:10.1117/12.3006282

1 April 2024 Cramér-Rao lower bound in the context of spectral x-ray imaging with propagation-based phase contrast

Proceedings Volume 12925, Medical Imaging 2024: Physics of Medical Imaging; 129250L (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3006282
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2024, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

X-ray “phase-contrast” imaging shows promise for improved image contrast with lower dose, circumventing many disadvantages of traditional diagnostic “absorption-contrast” imaging. However, various challenges must be addressed before it can be realized clinically. One of the most clinically viable phase-contrast imaging techniques is spectral propagation-based imaging (PBI). PBI has the unique advantage of not requiring any specialized optical equipment, and spectral imaging can provide the multiple images necessary to distinguish phase and absorptive properties in a single acquisition. Here, we present a method to quantify the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) with spectral PBI. We accounted for the spatial dependence of phase effects using a two-dimensional detector and finite difference approximation. We applied this to the task of basis material decomposition with varying propagation distances (0 to 300mm). We modeled two monochromatic sources (24 and 34keV) and an object comprising a 400μm sphere of soft tissue and a 100μm sphere of either bone or adipose tissue. Output CRLBs were used to estimate basis material signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Without phase contrast, bone SNR was higher than adipose SNR. Both materials’ SNR increased greatly with propagation distance, with the most rapid improvements from 0 to 20mm and a slight decrease in slope above 100mm. This model demonstrates the utility of our spectral PBI CRLB framework and the benefit of phase contrast in tasks with both good and poor absorption. This method can be used to optimize spectral PBI acquisition parameters and has potential to be extended to clinical-scale imaging.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Giavanna Jadick and Patrick La Rivière "Cramér-Rao lower bound in the context of spectral x-ray imaging with propagation-based phase contrast", Proc. SPIE 12925, Medical Imaging 2024: Physics of Medical Imaging, 129250L (1 April 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3006282

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