Program Information
Improved Noise Suppression for Dual-Energy CT Through Entropy Minimization
M Petrongolo*, L Zhu , Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Presentations
MO-FG-204-1 (Monday, July 13, 2015) 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM Room: 204
Purpose: In dual energy CT (DECT), noise amplification during signal decomposition significantly limits the utility of basis material images. Since clinically relevant objects contain a limited number of materials, we propose to suppress noise for DECT based on image entropy minimization. An adaptive weighting scheme is employed during noise suppression to improve decomposition accuracy with limited effect on spatial resolution and image texture preservation.
Methods: From decomposed images, we first generate a 2D plot of scattered data points, using basis material densities as coordinates. Data points representing the same material generate a highly asymmetric cluster. We orient an axis by minimizing the entropy in a 1D histogram of these points projected onto the axis. To suppress noise, we replace pixel values of decomposed images with center-of-mass values in the direction perpendicular to the optimal axis. To limit errors due to cluster overlap, we weight each data point’s contribution based on its high and low energy CT values and location within the image. The proposed method’s performance is assessed on physical phantom studies. Electron density is used as the quality metric for decomposition accuracy. Our results are compared to those without noise suppression and with a recently developed iterative method.
Results: The proposed method reduces noise standard deviations of the decomposed images by at least one order of magnitude. On the Catphan phantom, this method greatly preserves the spatial resolution and texture of the CT images and limits induced error in measured electron density to below 1.2%. In the head phantom study, the proposed method performs the best in retaining fine, intricate structures.
Conclusion: The entropy minimization based algorithm with adaptive weighting substantially reduces DECT noise while preserving image spatial resolution and texture. Future investigations will include extensive investigations on material decomposition accuracy that go beyond the current electron density calculations.
Funding Support, Disclosures, and Conflict of Interest: This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Grant Number R21 EB012700.
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