Two Monte Carlo-based simulators for imaging-system modeling and projection simulation of flat-panel X-ray source

The advantages of a flat-panel X-ray source (FPXS) make it a promising candidate for imaging applications. Accurate imaging-system modeling and projection simulation are critical for analyzing imaging performance and resolving overlapping projection issues in FPXS. The conventional analytical ray-tracing approach is limited by the number of patterns and is not applicable to FPXS-projection calculations. However, the computation time of Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is independent of the size of the patterned arrays in FPXS. This study proposes two high-efficiency MC projection simulators for FPXS: a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based phase-space sampling MC (gPSMC) simulator and GPU-based fluence sampling MC (gFSMC) simulator. The two simulators comprise three components: imaging-system modeling, photon initialization, and physical-interaction simulations in the phantom. Imaging-system modeling was performed by modeling the FPXS, imaging geometry, and detector. The gPSMC simulator samples the initial photons from the phase space, whereas the gFSMC simulator performs photon initialization from the calculated energy spectrum and fluence map. The entire process of photon interaction with the geometry and arrival at the detector was simulated in parallel using multiple GPU kernels, and projections based on the two simulators were calculated. The accuracies of the two simulators were evaluated by comparing them with the conventional analytical ray-tracing approach and acquired projections, and the efficiencies were evaluated by comparing the computation time. The results of simulated and realistic experiments illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed gPSMC and gFSMC simulators in the projection calculation of various phantoms.