A Monte Carlo method to assess the spectral performance of photon counting detectors

IF 3.2 2区医学 Q1 RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING

Medical physics Pub Date : 2024-12-11 DOI:10.1002/mp.17577

Karl Stierstorfer, Martin Hupfer

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Assessing the performance of spectral detectors is an important but nontrivial problem. In the past few years, detective quantum efficiency-(DQE)-like quantities have been proposed that allow quantifying the spatial-spectral performance for certain tasks. In previous publications, we have presented and validated an approach to determine detector properties like the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), and the DQE based on an end-to-end Monte Carlo model of the detection process. This approach has so far not been used to assess the task-dependent spatial-spectral performance of detectors.

Purpose

In this paper, we extend the Monte Carlo method to detectors with several spectral thresholds and show how it can be used to derive all relevant quantities for the assessment of the spectral performance of such detectors. We describe the method in detail and apply it to four interesting types of realistic detectors.

Method

The method is an extension of the Monte Carlo method presented previously. An end-to-end Monte Carlo simulation of the detection process directly provides the statistics necessary to obtain all relevant performance parameters, including task-based spectral DQEs. The method is applied to two direct converting photon counting detectors using CdTe and silicon: a CdTe-based photon counter with additional coincidence counters and an optical counting system using LaBr₃ as a scintillator.

Results

The task-dependent DQEs show an advantage for CdTe, particularly for non-spectral tasks. Silicon has an advantage for material decomposition tasks at lower frequencies. Both hypothetical systems, the CdTe detector with coincidence counters and the scintillator-based detector, show the potential to outperform the two so-far-realized systems.

Conclusion

The method presented is a direct method to obtain all relevant quantities (MTF, NPS, various spectral DQEs) from an end-to-end Monte Carlo simulation of the detector. It allows for assessing detector systems currently being used and potential novel detector systems.

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一种评估光子计数探测器光谱性能的蒙特卡罗方法。

背景：评估光谱探测器的性能是一个重要而又重要的问题。在过去的几年里，类似探测量子效率（DQE）的量被提出，可以量化某些任务的空间光谱性能。在之前的出版物中，我们已经提出并验证了一种方法来确定探测器属性，如调制传递函数（MTF）、噪声功率谱（NPS）和基于检测过程的端到端蒙特卡罗模型的DQE。到目前为止，这种方法还没有被用来评估探测器的任务相关的空间光谱性能。目的：在本文中，我们将蒙特卡罗方法扩展到具有多个光谱阈值的检测器，并展示了如何使用它来推导用于评估此类检测器的光谱性能的所有相关量。我们详细描述了该方法，并将其应用于四种有趣的现实探测器类型。方法：该方法是对先前提出的蒙特卡罗方法的扩展。检测过程的端到端蒙特卡罗模拟直接提供了获得所有相关性能参数所需的统计数据，包括基于任务的光谱dqe。该方法应用于两个使用CdTe和硅的直接转换光子计数探测器：一个基于CdTe的光子计数器，附加符合计数器和一个使用LaBr3作为闪烁体的光学计数系统。结果：任务依赖的DQEs显示出CdTe的优势，特别是对于非光谱任务。硅在较低频率的材料分解任务中具有优势。两种假设的系统，具有巧合计数器的碲化镉探测器和基于闪烁体的探测器，都显示出超越两种迄今为止实现的系统的潜力。结论：该方法是一种直接的方法，可以从探测器的端到端蒙特卡罗模拟中获得所有相关量（MTF， NPS，各种光谱DQEs）。它允许评估目前正在使用的探测器系统和潜在的新型探测器系统。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Medical physics 医学-核医学

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

15.80%

发文量

660

审稿时长

1.7 months

期刊介绍： Medical Physics publishes original, high impact physics, imaging science, and engineering research that advances patient diagnosis and therapy through contributions in 1) Basic science developments with high potential for clinical translation 2) Clinical applications of cutting edge engineering and physics innovations 3) Broadly applicable and innovative clinical physics developments Medical Physics is a journal of global scope and reach. By publishing in Medical Physics your research will reach an international, multidisciplinary audience including practicing medical physicists as well as physics- and engineering based translational scientists. We work closely with authors of promising articles to improve their quality.