| 1. |
- Ahmadi, Zainab, et al.
(författare)
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Agreement of the modified Medical Research Council and New York Heart Association scales for assessing the impact of self-rated breathlessness in cardiopulmonary disease
- 2022
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Ingår i: ERJ Open Research. - : European Respiratory Society. - 2312-0541. ; 8:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The functional impact of breathlessness is assessed using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale for chronic respiratory disease and with the New York Heart Association Functional Classification (NYHA) scale for heart failure. We evaluated agreement between the scales and their concurrent validity with other clinically relevant patient-reported outcomes in cardiorespiratory disease.Methods: Outpatients with stable chronic respiratory disease or heart failure were recruited. Agreement between the mMRC and NYHA scales was analysed using Cramér's V and Kendall's tau B tests. Concurrent validity was evaluated using correlations with clinically relevant measures of breathlessness, anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life. Analyses were conducted for all participants and separately in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure.Results: In a total of 182 participants with cardiorespiratory disease, the agreement between the mMRC and NYHA scales was moderate (Cramér's V: 0.46; Kendall's tau B: 0.57) with similar results for COPD (Cramér's V: 0.46; Kendall's tau B: 0.66) and heart failure (Cramér's V: 0.46; Kendall's tau B: 0.67). In the total population, the scales correlated in similar ways to other patient-reported outcomes.Conclusion: In outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease, the mMRC and NYHA scales show moderate to strong correlations and similar associations with other patient-reported outcomes. This supports that the scales are comparable when assessing the impact of breathlessness on function and patient-reported outcomes.
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| 2. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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On the comparison of FROC curves in mammography CAD systems
- 2005
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Ingår i: Medical Physics. - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 32:2, s. 412-417
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a novel method for assessing the performance of computer-aided detection systems on unseen cases at a given sensitivity level.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Ekström, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Minimal clinically important differences for Dyspnea-12 and MDP scores are similar at 2 weeks and 6 months : follow-up of a longitudinal clinical study
- 2021
-
Ingår i: The European respiratory journal. - : European Respiratory Society (ERS). - 1399-3003 .- 0903-1936. ; 57:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chronic breathlessness is a dominating symptom that restricts daily life for many people with cardiorespiratory disease [1]. Different dimensions of the symptom, such as the intensity, sensory qualities and emotional responses, can be assessed using the instruments Dyspnea-12 (D-12) [2] and the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP) [3], which share similarities in the underlying constructs of what is measured [4] and have emerged as widely used instruments for multi-dimensional measurement of breathlessness
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| 5. |
- Ekström, Magnus P., et al.
(författare)
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Minimal Clinically Important Differences and Feasibility of Dyspnea-12 and the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile in Cardiorespiratory Disease
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. - : Elsevier. - 0885-3924 .- 1873-6513. ; 60:5, s. 968-975
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Breathlessness is a cardinal symptom in cardiorespiratory disease and consists of multiple dimensions that can be measured using the instruments Dyspnea-12 (D12) and the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP). Objectives: The objective of the study is to determine the minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) of all D12 and MDP summary and subdomain scores as well as the instruments' feasibility in patients with cardiorespiratory disease. Methods: Prospective multicenter cohort study of outpatients with diagnosed cardiorespiratory disease and breathlessness in daily life. D12 and MDP were assessed at baseline, after 30-90 minutes and two weeks. MCIDs were calculated using anchor-based and distributional methods for summary and subdomain scores. Feasibility was assessed as rate of missing data, help required, self-reported difficulty, and completion time. Results: A total 182 outpatients (53.3% women) were included; main diagnoses were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; 25%), asthma (21%), heart failure (19%), and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (19%). Anchor-based MCIDs were for D12 total score 2.83 (95% CI 1.99-3.66); D12 physical 1.81 (1.29-2.34); D12 affective 1.07 (0.64-1.49); MDP A1 unpleasantness 0.82 (0.56-1.08); MDP perception 4.63 (3.21-6.05), and MDP emotional score 2.37 (1.10-3.64). The estimates were consistent with small-to-moderate effect sizes using distributional analysis, and MCIDs were similar between COPD and non-COPD patients. The instruments were generally feasible and quick to use. Conclusion: D12 and MDP are responsive to change and feasible for use for assessing multidimensional breathlessness in outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease. MCIDs were determined for use as endpoints in clinical trials.
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| 6. |
- Ekström, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Validation of the Swedish Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP) in outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease
- 2019
-
Ingår i: BMJ Open Respiratory Research. - : BMJ. - 2052-4439. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction Breathlessness is a cardinal symptom in cardiorespiratory disease. An instrument for measuring different aspects of breathlessness was recently developed, the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP). This study aimed to validate the MDP in terms of the underlying factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability and concurrent validity in Swedish outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease. Methods Outpatients with stable cardiorespiratory disease and breathlessness in daily life were recruited. Factor structure of MDP was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis; internal consistency was analysed using Cronbach's alpha; and test-retest reliability was analysed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for patients with unchanged breathlessness between assessments (baseline, after 30-90 min and 2 weeks). Concurrent validity was evaluated using correlations with validated scales of breathlessness, anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life. Results In total, 182 outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease and breathlessness in daily life were included; 53.3% were women; main diagnoses were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (24.7%), asthma (21.4%), heart failure (19.2%) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (18.7%). The MDP total, immediate perception and emotional response scores, and individual item scores showed expected factor structure and acceptable measurement properties: internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha, range 0.80-0.93); test-retest reliability at 30-90 min and 2 weeks (ICC, range 0.67-0.91); and concurrent validity. There was no evidence of a learning effect. Findings were similar between diagnoses. Discussion MDP is a valid instrument for multidimensional measurement of breathlessness in Swedish outpatients across cardiorespiratory diseases.
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| 7. |
- Sundh, Josefin, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical validation of the Swedish version of Dyspnoea-12 instrument in outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease
- 2019
-
Ingår i: BMJ Open Respiratory Research. - : BMJ. - 2052-4439. ; 6:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction Breathlessness is the cardinal symptom in both cardiac and respiratory diseases, and includes multiple dimensions. The multidimensional instrument Dyspnoea-12 has been developed to assess both physical and affective components of breathlessness. This study aimed to perform a clinical validation of the Swedish version of Dyspnoea-12 in outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease. Methods Stable outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease and self-reported breathlessness in daily life were recruited from five Swedish centres. Assessments of Dyspnoea-12 were performed at baseline, after 30-90 min and after 2 weeks. Factor structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha. Test-retest reliability was analysed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Concurrent validity at baseline was evaluated by examining correlations with lung function and several instruments for the assessment of symptoms and health status. Results In total, 182 patients were included: with the mean age of 69 years and 53% women. The main causes of breathlessness were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; 25%), asthma (21%), heart failure (19%) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (19%). Factor analysis confirmed the expected underlying two-component structure with two subdomains. The Dyspnoea-12 total score, physical subdomain score and affective subdomain scores showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.94, 0.84 and 0.80, respectively) and acceptable reliability after 2 weeks (ICC total scores 0.81, 0.79 and 0.73). Dyspnoea-12 showed concurrent validity with the instruments modified Medical Research Council scale, COPD Assessment Test, European Quality of Life-Five Dimensions-Five levels, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and with forced expiratory volume in 1 s in percentage of predicted value. The results were consistent across different cardiorespiratory conditions. Conclusion The Dyspnoea-12 is a valid instrument for multidimensional assessment of breathlessness in Swedish patients with cardiorespiratory diseases.
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| 8. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Allowable forward model misspecification for accurate basis decomposition in a silicon detector based spectral CT
- 2015
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. - : IEEE Press. - 0278-0062 .- 1558-254X. ; 34:3, s. 788-795
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Material basis decomposition in the sinogram domain requires accurate knowledge of the forward model in spectral computed tomography (CT). Misspecifications over a certain limit will result in biased estimates and make quantum limited (where statistical noise dominates) quantitative CT difficult. We present a method whereby users can determine the degree of allowed misspecification error in a spectral CT forward model and still have quantification errors that are limited by the inherent statistical uncertainty. For a particular silicon detector based spectral CT system, we conclude that threshold determination is the most critical factor and that the bin edges need to be known to within 0.15 keV in order to be able to perform quantum limited material basis decomposition. The method as such is general to all multibin systems.
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| 9. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Calibration of an x-ray imaging system
- 2022
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Patent (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Disclosed is a calibration phantom for an x-ray imaging system having an x-ray source and an x-ray detector. The calibration phantom includes a combination of geometric objects of at least three different types and/or compositions including: a first object located in the middle, including a first material; a plurality of second objects arranged around the periphery of the first object, at least a subset of the second objects including a second material different than the first material, wherein the first object is relatively larger than the second objects; a plurality of third objects arranged around the periphery of the first object and/or around the periphery of at least a subset of the second objects, at least a subset of the third objects including a third material different than the first material and the second material, wherein the third objects are relatively smaller than the second objects.
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| 10. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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Computer-aided detection and novel mammography imaging techniques
- 2006
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis presents techniques constructed to aid the radiologists in detecting breast cancer, the second largest cause of cancer deaths for western women. In the first part of the thesis, a computer-aided detection (CAD) system constructed for the detection of stellate lesions is presented. Different segmentation methods and an attempt to incorporate contra-lateral information are evaluated. In the second part, a new method for evaluating such CAD systems is presented based on constructing credible regions for the number of false positive marks per image at a certain desired target sensitivity. This method shows that the resulting regions are rather wide and this explains some of the difficulties encountered by other researchers when trying to compare CAD algorithms on different data sets. In this part an attempt to model the clinical use of CAD as a second look is also made and it shows that applying CAD in sequence to the radiologist in a routine manner, without duly altering the decision criterion of the radiologist, might very well result in suboptimal operating points. Finally, in the third part two dual-energy imaging methods optimized for contrast-enhanced imaging of breast tumors are presented. The first is based on applying an electronic threshold to a photon-counting digital detector to discriminate between high- and low-energy photons. This allows simultaneous acquisition of the high- and low-energy images. The second method is based on the geometry of a scanned multi-slit system and also allows single-shot contrast-enhanced dual-energy mammography by filtering the x-ray beam that reaches different detector lines differently.
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| 11. |
- Bornefalk, hans, et al.
(författare)
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Contrast-enhanced dual-energy mammography using a scanned multi-slit system : valuation of a differential beam filtering technique
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Journal of Electronic Imaging (JEI). - : SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng. - 1017-9909 .- 1560-229X. ; 16:2, s. 023006-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes a method for single-exposure, contrast-enhanced dual-energy imaging of tumors utilizing a scanned multislit system for digital mammography. This photon-counting system employs an array of silicon strip detectors mounted in an edge-on geometry. The line detectors and pre- and post-collimator slits are carefully aligned, and the multislit setup allows differential filtering of the x-ray beam in the pre-collimator slits. A high-energy image is constructed from those lines where the filter material has been chosen to harden the x-ray beam and the low-energy image from the lines with a filter producing softer beams. Both images are obtained in the same scan, eliminating the need to change tube voltages and anode materials and minimizing the risk of motion artifacts. The method is illustrated on a purpose-built phantom, and logarithmic subtraction of the images produces images essentially free of anatomical clutter with the contrast-enhanced targets clearly visible.
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| 12. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Design considerations to overcome cross talk in a photon counting silicon strip detector for computed tomography
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 621:1-3, s. 371-378
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article presents a Monte Carlo simulation of the detector energy response in the presence of pileup in a segmented silicon microstrip detector designed for high flux spectral computed tomography with sub-millimeter pixel size. Currents induced on the collection electrode of a pixel segment are explicitly modeled and signals emanating from events in neighboring pixels are superimposed together with electronic noise before the entire pulse train is processed by a model of the readout electronics to obtain the detector energy response function. The article shows how the lower threshold and the time constant of the electronic filters need to be set in order to minimize the detrimental influence of cross talk from neighboring pixel segments, an issue that is aggravated by the sub-millimeter pixel size and the proposed segmented detector design. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 13. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Dual-energy imaging using a digital scanned multi-slit system for mammography : evaluation of a differential beam filtering technique - art. no. 61422O
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Medical Imaging 2006: Physics of Medical Imaging, Pts 1-3. - BELLINGHAM, WA : SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. - 0819461857 ; , s. O1422-O1422
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes a method for single exposure contrast-enhanced dual-energy imaging of tumors utilizing a scanned multi-slit system for digital mammography. This photon counting system employs an array of silicon strip detectors in an edge-on geometry. In the multi-slit setup, the line detectors and pre-collimator slits are aligned orthogonal to the scan direction. This geometry is advantageous to dual-energy imaging, since it allows differential filtering of the x-ray beam in the pre-collimator slits. A high-energy image is constructed from those lines where the filter material has been chosen to harden the x-ray beam and the low-energy image from the lines with a filter producing softer beams. Both images are obtained in the same scan, eliminating the need to change tube voltages and anode materials and minimizing the risk of motion artifacts. The method is illustrated on a purpose-built phantom and logarithmic subtraction of the images produces images essentially free of anatomical clutter with the contrast-enhanced targets clearly visible.
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| 14. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Dual-energy imaging using a photon counting detector with electronic spectrum-splitting - art. no. 61421H
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Medical Imaging 2006: Physics of Medical Imaging, Pts 1-3. - : SPIE. - 9780819461858 ; , s. H1421-H1421
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a dual-energy imaging technique optimized for contrast-enhanced mammography using a photon counting detector. Each photon pulse is processed separately in the detector and the addition of an electronic threshold near the middle of the energy range of the x-ray spectrum allows discrimination of high and low energy photons. This effectively makes the detector energy sensitive, and allows the acquisition of high- and low-energy images simultaneously. These high- and low-energy images can be combined to dual-energy images where the anatomical clutter has been suppressed. By setting the electronic threshold close to 33.2 keV (the k-edge of iodine) the system is optimized for dual-energy contrast-enhanced imaging of breast tumors. Compared to other approaches, this method not only eliminates the need for separate exposures that might lead to motion artifacts, it also eliminates the otherwise deteriorating overlap between high- and low-energy spectra. We present phantom dual-energy images acquired on a prototype system to illustrate that the technique is already operational, albeit in its infancy. We also present a theoretical estimation of the potential gain in tumor signal-difference-to-noise ratio when using this electronic spectrum-splitting method as opposed to acquiring the high- and low-energy images separately with double exposures with separate x-ray spectra. Assuming ideal energy sensitive photon counting detectors, we arrive at the conclusion that the signal-difference-to-noise ratio could be increased by 145% at constant dose. We also illustrate our results on synthetic images.
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| 15. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of Temperature Variation on the Energy Response of a Photon Counting Silicon CT Detector
- 2013
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 0018-9499 .- 1558-1578. ; 60:2, s. 1442-1449
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of temperature variation on pulse height determination accuracy is determined for a photon counting multibin silicon detector developed for spectral CT. Theoretical predictions of the temperature coefficient of the gain and offset are similar to values derived from synchrotron radiation measurements in a temperature controlled environment. By means of statistical modeling, we conclude that temperature changes affect all channels equally and with separate effects on gain and threshold offset. The combined effect of a 1 degrees C temperature increase is to decrease the detected energy by 0.1 keV for events depositing 30 keV. For the electronic noise, no statistically significant temperature effect was discernible in the data set, although theory predicts a weak dependence. The method is applicable to all x-ray detectors operating in pulse mode.
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| 16. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Enhanced spectral x-ray imaging
- 2021
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Patent (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- An x-ray imaging apparatus includes an x-ray source and detector with multiple detector elements. The source and detector are on a support that rotates around a subject, enabling projections at different view angles. The apparatus operates the x-ray source in switched kVp mode for alternately applying different voltages, including lower and higher voltages, during rotation to enable lower-energy and higher-energy exposures over the projections, providing for lower-energy projections and higher-energy projections. The x-ray detector is a photon-counting multi-bin detector allocating photon counts to multiple energy bins, and the apparatus selects counts from at least a subset of the bins to provide corresponding photon count information for both lower- and higher-energy projections. The apparatus performs material basis decomposition for some of the lower-energy projections and higher-energy projections and/or for some combinations of at least one lower-energy projection and at least one higher-energy projection, based on the corresponding photon count information.
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| 17. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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Estimation and Comparison of CAD System Performance in Clinical Settings
- 2005
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Ingår i: Academic Radiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1076-6332 .- 1878-4046. ; 12:6, s. 687-694
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rationale and Objectives. Computer-aided detection (CAD) systems are frequently compared using free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curves. While there are ample statistical methods for comparing FROC curves, when one is interested in comparing the outcomes of 2 CAD systems applied in a typical clinical setting, there is the additional matter of correctly determining the system operating point. This article shows how the effect of the sampling error on determining the correct CAD operating point can be captured. By incorporating this uncertainty, a method is presented that allows estimation of the probability with which a particular CAD system performs better than another on unseen data in a clinical setting. Materials and Methods. The distribution of possible clinical outcomes from 2 artificial CAD systems with different FROC curves is examined. The sampling error is captured by the distribution of possible system thresholds of the classifying machine that yields a specified sensitivity. After introducing a measure of superiority, the probability of one system being superior to the other can be determined. Results. It is shown that for 2 typical mammography CAD systems, each trained on independent representative datasets of 100 cases, the FROC curves must be separated by 0.20 false positives per image in order to conclude that there is a 90% probability that one is better than the other in a clinical setting. Also, there is no apparent gain in increasing the size of the training set beyond 100 cases. Discussion. CAD systems for mammography are modeled for illustrative purposes, but the method presented is applicable to any computer-aided detection system evaluated with FROC curves. The presented method is designed to construct confidence intervals around possible clinical outcomes and to assess the importance of training set size and separation between FROC curves of systems trained on different datasets.
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| 18. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Image quality in photon counting-mode detector systems
- 2013
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Patent (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- The current invention applies to photon counting silicon x-ray detectors with energy discriminating capabilities and applications in x-ray imaging systems. The overall image quality produced by such a system is improved by the presented novel methods for optimally using the energy information in Compton events and making selective use of counts induced from charges collected in neighboring pixels. The pile-up problem during high-flux imaging regimes is reduced by a novel method for signal reset, which improves the count efficiency by reducing the risk of losing event due to signal pile-up in the read out electronics chain.
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| 19. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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Implications of unchanged detection criteria with CAD as second reader of mammograms
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 33:4, s. 922-929
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we address the use of computer-aided detection (CAD) systems as second readers in mammography. The approach is based on Bayesian decision theory and its implication for the choice of optimal operating points. The choice of a certain operating point along an ROC curve corresponds to a particular tradeoff between false positives and missed cancers. By minimizing a total risk function given this tradeoff, we determine optimal decision thresholds for the radiologist and CAD system when CAD is used as a second reader. We show that under very general circumstances, the performance of the sequential system is improved if the decision threshold of the latent human decision variable is increased compared to what it would have been in the absence of the CAD system. This means that an initial stricter decision criterion should be applied by the radiologist when CAD is used as a second reader than otherwise. First and foremost, the results in this paper should be interpreted qualitatively, but an attempt is made at quantifying the effect by tuning the model to a prospective study evaluating the use of CAD as a second reader. By making some necessary and plausible assumptions, we are able to estimate the effect of the resulting suboptimal operating point. In this study of 12 860 women, we estimate that a 15% reduction in callbacks for masses could have been achieved with only about a 1.5% relative decrease in sensitivity compared to that without using a stricter initial criterion by the radiologist. For microcalcifications the corresponding values are 7% and 0.2%. (c) 2006 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
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| 20. |
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| 21. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Necessary forward model specification accuracy for basis material decomposition in spectral CT
- 2014
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Ingår i: Medical Imaging 2014. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 9780819498267 ; , s. 90332I-
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Material basis decomposition in the sinogram domain requires accurate knowledge of the forward model in spectral CT. Misspecifications over a certain limit will result in biased estimates and make quantum limited quantitative CT difficult. We present a method whereby users can determine the degree of allowed misspecification error in a spectral CT forward model, and still have quantification errors that are quantum limited.
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| 22. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Photon-counting spectral computed tomography using silicon strip detectors : a feasibility study
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physics in Medicine and Biology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0031-9155 .- 1361-6560. ; 55:7, s. 1999-2022
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We show how the spectral imaging framework should be modified to account for a high fraction of Compton interactions in low Z detector materials such as silicon. Using this framework, where deposited energies differ from actual photon energies, we compare the performance of a silicon strip detector, including the influence of scatter inside the detector and charge sharing but disregarding signal pileup, with an ideal energy integrating detector. We show that although the detection efficiency for silicon rapidly drops for the acceleration voltages encountered in clinical computed tomography practice, silicon detectors could perform on a par with ideal energy integrating detectors for routine imaging tasks. The use of spectrally sensitive detectors opens up the possibility for decomposition techniques such as k-edge imaging, and we show that the proposed modification of the spectral imaging framework is beneficial for such imaging tasks.
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| 23. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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Proposal and validation of a method to construct confidence intervals for clinical outcomes around FROC curves for mammography CAD systems
- 2005
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Ingår i: MEDICAL IMAGING 2005: IMAGE PROCESSING, PT 1-3. - BELLINGHAM : SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. - 0819457213 ; , s. 675-682
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper introduces a method for constructing confidence intervals for possible clinical outcomes around the FROC curve of a mammography CAD system. Given the architecture of a CAD classifying machine, there is one and only one system threshold that will yield a desired sensitivity on a certain population. The limited training sample size leads to a sampling error and an uncertainty in determining the optimal system threshold. This leads to an uncertainty in the operating point in the direction along the FROC curve which can be captured by a Bayesian approach where the distribution of possible thresholds is estimated. This uncertainty contributes to a large and spread-out confidence interval which is important to consider when one is intending to make comparisons between CAD algorithms trained on different data sets. The method is validated using a Monte Carlo method designed to capture the effect of correctly determining the system threshold.
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| 24. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Simulation study of an energy sensitive photon counting silicon strip detector for computed tomography : identifying strengths and weaknesses and developing work-arounds
- 2010
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Ingår i: MEDICAL IMAGING 2010. - : SPIE. - 9780819480231
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We model the effect of signal pile-up on the energy resolution of a photon counting silicon detector designed for high flux spectral CT with sub-millimeter pixel size. Various design parameters, such as bias voltage, lower threshold level for discarding of electronic noise and the entire electronic read out chain are modeled and realistic parameter settings are determined. We explicitly model the currents induced on the collection electrodes of a pixel and superimpose signals emanating from events in neighboring pixels, either due to charge sharing or signals induced during charge collection. Electronic noise is added to the pulse train before feeding it through a model of the read out electronics where the pulse height spectrum is saved to yield the detector energy response function. The main result of this study is that a lower threshold of 5 keV and a rather long time constant of the shaping filter (tau(0) = 30 ns) are needed to discard induced pulses from events in neighboring pixels. These induction currents occur even if no charge is being deposited in the analyzed pixel from the event in the neighboring pixel. There is also only a limited gain in energy resolution by increasing the bias voltage to 1000 V from 600 V. We show that with these settings the resulting energy resolution, as measured by the FWHM/E of the photo peak, is 5% at 70 keV.
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| 25. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Single-shot dual-energy subtraction mammography with electronic spectrum splitting : Feasibility
- 2006
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Ingår i: European Journal of Radiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0720-048X .- 1872-7727. ; 60:2, s. 275-278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a single-shot dual-energy subtraction mammography technique using an energy sensitive photon counting detector. An electronic threshold near the middle of the X-ray spectrum discriminates between high- and low-energy photons, and allows the simultaneous acquisition of high- and low-energy images which can be combined to suppress anatomical clutter. By setting the electronic threshold close to 33.2 keV (the k-edge of iodine) the system is optimized for dual-energy contrast-enhanced imaging of breast tumors. This method eliminates the need for separate exposures which might otherwise lead to motion artifacts. The method is illustrated in phantom images.
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| 26. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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Synthetic Hounsfield units from spectral CT data
- 2012
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Ingår i: Physics in Medicine and Biology. - 0031-9155 .- 1361-6560. ; 57:7, s. N83-N87
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Beam-hardening-free synthetic images with absolute CT numbers that radiologists are used to can be constructed from spectral CT data by forming 'dichromatic' images after basis decomposition. The CT numbers are accurate for all tissues and the method does not require additional reconstruction. This method prevents radiologists from having to relearn new rules-of-thumb regarding absolute CT numbers for various organs and conditions as conventional CT is replaced by spectral CT. Displaying the synthetic Hounsfield unit images side-by-side with images reconstructed for optimal detectability for a certain task can ease the transition from conventional to spectral CT.
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| 27. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, 1974-
(författare)
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Task-based weights for photon counting spectral x-ray imaging
- 2011
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Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 38:11, s. 6065-6073
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To develop a framework for taking the spatial frequency composition of an imaging taskinto account when determining optimal bin weight factors for photon counting energy sensitivex-ray systems. A second purpose of the investigation is to evaluate the possible improvement comparedto using pixel based weights.Methods: The Fourier based approach of imaging performance and detectability index d0 is appliedto pulse height discriminating photon counting systems. The dependency of d0 on the bin weightfactors is made explicit, taking into account both differences in signal and noise transfer characteristicsacross bins and the spatial frequency dependency of interbin correlations from reabsorbedscatter. Using a simplified model of a specific silicon detector, d0 values for a high and a low frequencyimaging task are determined for optimal weights and compared to pixel based weights.Results: The method successfully identifies bins where a large point spread function degradesdetection of high spatial frequency targets. The method is also successful in determining how todownweigh highly correlated bins. Quantitative predictions for the simplified silicon detectormodel indicate that improvements in the detectability index when applying task-based weightsinstead of pixel based weights are small for high frequency targets, but could be in excess of 10%for low frequency tasks where scatter-induced correlation otherwise degrade detectability.Conclusions: The proposed method makes the spatial frequency dependency of complex correlationstructures between bins and their effect on the system detective quantum efficiency easier toanalyze and allows optimizing bin weights for given imaging tasks. A potential increase in detectabilityof double digit percents in silicon detector systems operated at typical CT energies (100kVp) merits further evaluation on a real system. The method is noted to be of higher relevancefor silicon detectors than for cadmium (zink) telluride detectors.
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| 28. |
- Bornefalk, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Theoretical Comparison of the Iodine Quantification Accuracy of Two Spectral CT Technologies
- 2014
-
Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. - 0278-0062 .- 1558-254X. ; 33:2, s. 556-565
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We compare the theoretical limits of iodine quantification for the photon counting multibin and dual energy technologies. Dual energy systems by necessity have to make prior assumptions in order to quantify iodine. We explicitly allow the multibin system to make the same assumptions and also allow them to be wrong. We isolate the effect of technology from imperfections and implementation issues by assuming both technologies to be ideal, i.e., without scattered radiation, unity detection efficiency and perfect energy response functions, and by applying the Cramer-Rao lower bound methodology to assess the quantification accuracy. When priors are wrong the maximum likelihood estimates will be biased and the mean square error of the quantification error is a more appropriate figure of merit. The evaluation assumes identical X-ray spectra for both methodologies and for that reason a sensitivity analysis is performed with regard to the assumed X-ray spectrum. We show that when iodine is quantified over regions of interest larger than 6 cm, multibin systems benefit by independent estimation of three basis functions. For smaller regions of interest multibin systems can increase quantification accuracy by making the same prior assumptions as dual energy systems.
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| 29. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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Use of phase and certainty information in automatic detection of stellate patterns in mammograms : IMAGE PROCESSING, PTS 1-3
- 2004
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Ingår i: MEDICAL IMAGING 2004. - BELLINGHAM : SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. - 0819452831 ; , s. 97-107
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Detection of stellate patterns is a very important step in computer-aided detection schemes designed for mammography. We introduce a new way of finding these regions based on the use of quadrature filters. The method allows extraction of a certainty measure for each orientation estimate. This makes the method of finding the areas the spicules seem to emanate from more robust than simply basing it on the orientation estimates themselves. The local phase extracted from the filter outputs allows us to discriminate between orientation estimates from edges and dark lines from those generated by bright line structures, i.e. spicules. This makes the method more specific. We also show how the method can be modified for finding non-spiculated masses in digitized mammograms.
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| 30. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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Use of Quadrature Filters for Detection of Stellate Lesions in Mammograms
- 2005
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Ingår i: IMAGE ANALYSIS, PROCEEDINGS. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin Heidelberg. - 3540263209 ; , s. 649-658
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We propose a method for finding stellate lesions in digitized mammograms based on the use of both local phase and local orientation information extracted from quadrature filter outputs. The local phase information allows efficient and fast separation between edges and lines and the local orientation estimates are used to find areas circumscribed by edges and with radiating lines. The method is incorporated in a computer-aided detection system and evaluation by FROG-curve analysis on a data set of 90 mammograms (45 pairs) yields a false positive rate of 0.3 per image at 90% sensitivity.
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| 31. |
- Bornefalk, Hans
(författare)
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XCOM intrinsic dimensionality for low-Z elements at diagnostic energies
- 2012
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Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 39:2, s. 654-657
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To determine the intrinsic dimensionality of linear attenuation coefficients (LACs) from XCOM for elements with low atomic number (Z = 1-20) at diagnostic x-ray energies (25-120 keV). H-0(q), the hypothesis that the space of LACs is spanned by q bases, is tested for various q-values. Methods: Principal component analysis is first applied and the LACs are projected onto the first q principal component bases. The residuals of the model values vs XCOM data are determined for all energies and atomic numbers. Heteroscedasticity invalidates the prerequisite of i.i.d. errors necessary for bootstrapping residuals. Instead wild bootstrap is applied, which, by not mixing residuals, allows the effect of the non-i.i.d residuals to be reflected in the result. Credible regions for the eigenvalues of the correlation matrix for the bootstrapped LAC data are determined. If subsequent credible regions for the eigenvalues overlap, the corresponding principal component is not considered to represent true data structure but noise. If this happens for eigenvalues l and l + 1, for any l <= q, H-0(q) is rejected. Results: The largest value of q for which H-0(q) is nonrejectable at the 5%-level is q = 4. This indicates that the statistically significant intrinsic dimensionality of low-Z XCOM data at diagnostic energies is four. Conclusions: The method presented allows determination of the statistically significant dimensionality of any noisy linear subspace. Knowledge of such significant dimensionality is of interest for any method making assumptions on intrinsic dimensionality and evaluating results on noisy reference data. For LACs, knowledge of the low-Z dimensionality might be relevant when parametrization schemes are tuned to XCOM data. For x-ray imaging techniques based on the basis decomposition method (Alvarez and Macovski, Phys. Med. Biol. 21, 733-744, 1976), an underlying dimensionality of two is commonly assigned to the LAC of human tissue at diagnostic energies. The finding of a higher statistically significant dimensionality thus raises the question whether a higher assumed model dimensionality (now feasible with the advent of multibin x-ray systems) might also be practically relevant, i.e., if better tissue characterization results can be obtained.
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| 32. |
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| 33. |
- Grönberg, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Dimensionality and Background Cancellation in Energy Selective X-Ray Imaging
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Purpose: The set of linear attenuation coefficients that belong to materials in the human body is commonly assumed to be spanned by two basis functions in the range of clinical x-ray energies, even though there is evidence that the dimensionality of this set is greater than two. It has not yet been clear that the use of a third basis function could be beneficial in absence of contrast agents.Approach: In this work, the choice of the number of basis functions used in the basis decomposition method is studied for the task of producing an image where a third material is separated from a background of two other materials, in a case where none of the materials have a K-edge in the range of considered x-ray energies (20-140 keV). The case of separating iron from mixtures of liver and adipose tissue is studied with a simulated phantom which incorporates random and realistic tissue variability.Results: Inclusion of a third basis function improves the quantitative estimate of iron concentration by several orders of magnitude in terms of mean squared error in the resulting image.Conclusions: The inclusion of a third basis function in the basis decomposition is essential for the studied imaging task and could have potential application for quantitative estimation of iron concentration from material decomposed images.
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| 34. |
- Grönberg, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Image reconstruction based on energy-resolved image data from a photon-counting multi-bin detector
- 2015
-
Patent (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- There is provided a method of image reconstruction based on energy-resolved image data from a photon-counting multi-bin detector or an intermediate storage. The method comprises processing (S1) the energy-resolved image data by performing at least two separate basis decompositions using different number of basis functions for modeling linear attenuation, wherein a first basis decomposition is performed using a first smaller set of basis functions to obtain at least one first basis image representation, and wherein a second basis decomposition is performed using a second larger set of basis functions to obtain at least one second basis image representation. The method also comprises reconstructing a first image based on said at least one first basis image representation obtained from the first basis decomposition, and combining the first image with information representative of said at least one second basis image representation.
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| 35. |
- Grönberg, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Reconstructing Accurate Synthetic Hounsfield Units with Spectral CT Data
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Purpose: To evaluate a proposed method to reconstruct CT numbers that accurately mimic conventional CT numbers from spectral CT data, as would have been produced by a conventional system without effects of beam hardening.Approach: We implement the proposed method for simulated ideal and non-ideal photon counting multi-bin systems, the latter based on a photon counting Silicon detector, and compare them with a simulated ideal conventional energy integrating system with a cupping correction algorithm. We compare the systems using a mathematical phantom of a size and composition that produces severe cupping and beam hardening artefacts when imaged with a conventional system with no cupping correction.Results: The resulting images show CT numbers that are consistently accurate for a varying range of tissues and are free of beam hardening artefacts.Conclusions: This method could facilitate use of established rules-of-thumb regarding absolute CT numbers for various organs and conditions during the transition from conventional CTto spectral CT.
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Liu, Xuejin, et al.
(författare)
-
A Silicon-Strip Detector for Photon-Counting Spectral CT : Energy Resolution From 40 keV to 120 keV
- 2014
-
Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. - 0018-9499 .- 1558-1578. ; 61:3, s. 1099-1105
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We are developing a segmented silicon-strip detector for spectral computed tomography. The detector operates in photon-counting mode and allows pulse-height discrimination with 8 adjustable energy bins. In this work, we determine the energy resolution of a detector module using monoenergetic x-rays from 40 keV to 120 keV, provided at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble. For each incident x-ray energy, pulse height spectra at different input photon fluxes are obtained. We investigate changes of the energy resolution due to charge sharing between pixels and pulse pileup. The different incident energies are used to channel-wise calibrate the pulse-height response in terms of signal gain and offset and to probe the homogeneity of the detector module. The detector shows a linear pulse-height response in the energy range from 40 keV to 120 keV. The gain variation among the channels is below 4%, whereas the variation of the offsets is on the order of 1 keV. We find an absolute energy resolution (sigma(E)) that degrades from 1.5 keV to 1.9 keV with increasing x-ray energy from 40 keV to 100 keV. With increasing input count rate, sigma(E) degrades by approximately 4 . 10(-3) keV Mcps(-1) mm(2), which is, within error bars, the same for the different energies. The effect of charge sharing on the width of the response peak is found to be negligible.
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| 38. |
- Liu, Xuejin, et al.
(författare)
-
Characterization of a silicon strip detector for photon-counting spectral CT using monoenergetic photons from 40 keV to 120 keV
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Medical Imaging 2014. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 9780819498267 ; , s. 90333O-
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: We are developing a segmented silicon strip detector that operates in photon-counting mode and allows pulse-height discrimination with 8 adjustable energy bins. In this work, we determine the energy resolution of the detector using monoenergetic x-ray radiation from 40 keV to 120 keV. We further investigate the effects of pulse pileup and charge sharing between detector channels that may lead to a decreased energy resolution. Methods: For each incident monochromatic x-ray energy, we obtain count spectra at different photon fluxes. These spectra corresponds to the pulse-height response of the detector and allow the determination of energy resolution and charge-sharing probability. The energy resolution, however, is influenced by signal pileup and charge sharing. Both effects are quantified using Monte Carlo simulations of the detector that aim to reproduce the conditions during the measurements. Results: The absolute energy resolution is found to increase from 1.7 to 2.1 keV for increasing energies 40 keV to 120 keV at the lowest measured photon flux. The effect of charge sharing is found to increase the absolute energy resolution by a factor of 1.025 at maximum. This increase is considered as negligibly small. The pileup of pulses leads to a deterioration rate of the energy resolution of 4 · 10-3 keV Mcps-1 mm2, corresponding to an increase of 0.04keV per 10 Mcps increase of the detected count rate.
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| 39. |
- Liu, Xuejin, et al.
(författare)
-
Energy Calibration of a Silicon-Strip Detector for Photon-Counting Spectral CT by Direct Usage of the X-ray Tube Spectrum
- 2015
-
Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. - 0018-9499 .- 1558-1578. ; 62:1, s. 68-75
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The variation among energy thresholds in a multibin detector for photon-counting spectral CT can lead to ring artefacts in the reconstructed images. Calibration of the energy thresholds can be used to achieve homogeneous threshold settings or to develop compensation methods to reduce the artefacts. We have developed an energy-calibrationmethod for the different comparator thresholds employed in a photon-counting silicon-strip detector. In our case, this corresponds to specifying the linear relation between the threshold positions in units of mV and the actual deposited photon energies in units of keV. This relation is determined by gain and offset values that differ for different detector channels due to variations in the manufacturing process. Typically, the calibration is accomplished by correlating the peak positions of obtained pulse-height spectra to known photon energies, e. g. with the aid of mono-energetic x rays from synchrotron radiation, radioactive isotopes or fluorescence materials. Instead of mono-energetic x rays, the calibrationmethod presented in this papermakes use of a broad x-ray spectrum provided by commercial x-ray tubes. Gain and offset as the calibration parameters are obtained by a regression analysis that adjusts a simulated spectrum of deposited energies to ameasured pulse-height spectrum. Besides the basic photon interactions such as Rayleigh scattering, Compton scattering and photo-electric absorption, the simulation takes into account the effect of pulse pileup, charge sharing and the electronic noise of the detector channels. We verify the method for different detector channels with the aid of a table-top setup, where we find the uncertainty of the keV-value of a calibrated threshold to be between 0.1 and 0.2 keV.
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| 40. |
- Liu, Xuejin, et al.
(författare)
-
Modelling the channel-wise count response of a photon-counting spectral CT detector to a broad x-ray spectrum
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Medical Imaging 2015: Physics of Medical Imaging. - : SPIE. - 9781628415025
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variations among detector channels in CT very sensitively lead to ring artefacts in the reconstructed images. For material decomposition in the projection domain, the variations can result in intolerable biases in the material line integral estimates. A typical way to overcome these effects is to apply calibration methods that try to unify spectral responses from different detector channels to an ideal response from a detector model. However, the calibration procedure can be rather complex and require excessive calibration measurements for a multitude of combinations of x-ray shapes, tissue combinations and thicknesses. In this paper, we propose a channel-wise model for a multibin photon-counting detector for spectral CT. Predictions of this channel-wise model match well with their physical performances, which can thus be used to eliminate ring artefacts in CT images and achieve projection-basis material decomposition. In an experimental validation, image data show significant improvement with respect to ring artefacts compared to images calibrated with flat-fielding data. Projection-based material decomposition gives basis material images showing good separation among individual materials and good quantification of iodine and gadolinium contrast agents. The work indicates that the channel-wise model can be used for quantitative CT with this detector.
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| 41. |
- Liu, Xuejin, et al.
(författare)
-
Spectral response model for a multibin photon-counting spectral computed tomography detector and its applications
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medical Imaging. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 2329-4302 .- 2329-4310. ; 2:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variations among detector channels in computed tomography can lead to ring artifacts in the reconstructed images and biased estimates in projection-based material decomposition. Typically, the ring artifacts are corrected by compensation methods based on flat fielding, where transmission measurements are required for a number of material-thickness combinations. Phantoms used in these methods can be rather complex and require an extensive number of transmission measurements. Moreover, material decomposition needs knowledge of the individual response of each detector channel to account for the detector inhomogeneities. For this purpose, we have developed a spectral response model that binwise predicts the response of a multibin photon-counting detector individually for each detector channel. The spectral response model is performed in two steps. The first step employs a forward model to predict the expected numbers of photon counts, taking into account parameters such as the incident x-ray spectrum, absorption efficiency, and energy response of the detector. The second step utilizes a limited number of transmission measurements with a set of flat slabs of two absorber materials to fine-tune the model predictions, resulting in a good correspondence with the physical measurements. To verify the response model, we apply the model in two cases. First, the model is used in combination with a compensation method which requires an extensive number of transmission measurements to determine the necessary parameters. Our spectral response model successfully replaces these measurements by simulations, saving a significant amount of measurement time. Second, the spectral response model is used as the basis of the maximum likelihood approach for projection-based material decomposition. The reconstructed basis images show a good separation between the calcium-like material and the contrast agents, iodine and gadolinium. The contrast agent concentrations are reconstructed with more than 94% accuracy.
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| 42. |
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| 43. |
- Persson, Mats, et al.
(författare)
-
A Framework for Evaluating Threshold Variation Compensation Methods in Photon Counting Spectral CT
- 2012
-
Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. - 0278-0062 .- 1558-254X. ; 31:10, s. 1861-1874
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the challenges in the development of photon counting spectral computed tomography (CT) detectors is that the location of the energy thresholds tends to vary among detector elements. If not compensated for, this threshold variation leads to ring artifacts in the reconstructed images. In this paper, a framework is presented for the systematic comparison of different methods of compensating for inhomogeneities among detector elements in photon counting CT with multiple energy bins. Furthermore, we propose the use of an affine minimum mean square error estimator, calibrated against transmission measurements on different combinations of two materials, for inhomogeneity compensation. Using the framework developed here, this method is compared to two other compensation schemes, flatfielding using an air scan and signal-to-thickness calibration using a step wedge calibrator, in a simulation study. The results show that for all but the lowest studied level of threshold spread, the proposed method is superior to signal-to-thickness calibration, which in turn is superior to flatfielding. We also demonstrate that the effects of threshold variation can be countered to a large extent by substructuring each detector element into depth segments.
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| 44. |
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| 45. |
- Persson, Mats, et al.
(författare)
-
Energy-resolved CT imaging with a photon-counting silicon-strip detector
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Medical Imaging 2014. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 9780819498267 ; , s. 90333L-
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Photon-counting detectors are promising candidates for use in the next generation of x-ray CT scanners. Among the foreseen benefits are higher spatial resolution, better trade-off between noise and dose, and energy discriminating capabilities. Silicon is an attractive detector material because of its low cost, mature manufacturing process and high hole mobility. However, it is sometimes claimed to be unsuitable for use in computed tomography because of its low absorption efficiency and high fraction of Compton scatter. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that high-quality energy-resolved CT images can nonetheless be acquired with clinically realistic exposure parameters using a photon-counting silicon-strip detector with eight energy thresholds developed in our group. We use a single detector module, consisting of a linear array of 50 0.5 × 0.4 mm detector elements, to image a phantom in a table-top lab setup. The phantom consists of a plastic cylinder with circular inserts containing water, fat and aqueous solutions of calcium, iodine and gadolinium, in different concentrations. We use basis material decomposition to obtain water, calcium, iodine and gadolinium basis images and demonstrate that these basis images can be used to separate the different materials in the inserts. We also show results showing that the detector has potential for quantitative measurements of substance concentrations.
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| 46. |
- Persson, Mats, et al.
(författare)
-
Energy-resolved CT imaging with a photon-counting silicon-strip detector
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Physics in Medicine and Biology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0031-9155 .- 1361-6560. ; 59:22, s. 6709-6727
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Photon-counting detectors are promising candidates for use in the next generation of x-ray computed tomography (CT) scanners. Among the foreseen benefits are higher spatial resolution, better trade-off between noise and dose and energy discriminating capabilities. Silicon is an attractive detector material because of its low cost, mature manufacturing process and high hole mobility. However, it is sometimes overlooked for CT applications because of its low absorption efficiency and high fraction of Compton scatter. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that silicon is a feasible material for CT detectors by showing energy-resolved CT images acquired with an 80 kVp x-ray tube spectrum using a photon-counting silicon-strip detector with eight energy thresholds developed in our group. We use a single detector module, consisting of a linear array of 50 0.5 x 0.4 mm detector elements, to image a phantom in a table-top lab setup. The phantom consists of a plastic cylinder with circular inserts containing water, fat and aqueous solutions of calcium, iodine and gadolinium, in different concentrations. By using basis material decomposition we obtain water, calcium, iodine and gadolinium basis images and demonstrate that these basis images can be used to separate the different materials in the inserts. We also show results showing that the detector has potential for quantitative measurements of substance concentrations.
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| 47. |
- Persson, Mats, et al.
(författare)
-
Quantification of ring artifact visibility in CT
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Medical Imaging 2012. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 9780819489623 ; , s. 83132J-
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ring artifacts appear in computed tomography images if there are too large inhomogeneities between different detector elements. The question of how large inhomogeneities are acceptable is gaining in importance due to the development of energy discriminating photon counting CT, where detector homogeneity is an important design parameter. We propose using the systematic-to-statistical error quotient q, defined as the variance of the expected log-normalized count number between detector elements (dels) divided by the variance of log-normalized count numbers measured with the same del, as a metric of ring artifact visibility. With a simple observer study using simulated images, it is shown that rings are visible in the reconstructed image if q exceeds a threshold which lies close to 1.2·10 -3 for 1500 detector elements and 2000 projection angles. It is also shown by visual inspection of simulated images that the threshold value is, to a good approximation, inversely proportional to the number of angle measurements and independent of the number of detector elements. The results suggest that a simple oberver study, together with these scaling relationships, is sufficient for establishing sinogram homogeneity requirements for a particular reconstruction method.
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| 48. |
- Persson, Mats, 1987-
(författare)
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Spectral Computed Tomography with a Photon-Counting Silicon-Strip Detector
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Computed tomography (CT) is a widely used medical imaging modality. By rotating an x-ray tube and an x-ray detector around the patient, a CT scanner is able to measure the x-ray transmission from all directions and form an image of the patient’s interior. CT scanners in clinical use today all use energy-integrating detectors, which measure the total incident energy for each measurement interval. A photon-counting detector, on the other hand, counts the number of incoming photons and can in addition measure the energy of each photon by comparing it to a number of energy thresholds. Using photon- counting detectors in computed tomography could lead to improved signal-to-noise ratio, higher spatial resolution and improved spectral imaging which allows better visualization of contrast agents and more reliable quantitative measurements. In this Thesis, the feasibility of using a photon-counting silicon-strip detector for CT is investigated. In the first part of the Thesis, the necessary performance requirements on such a detector is investigated in two different areas: the detector element homogeneity and the capability of handling high photon fluence rates. A metric of inhomogeneity is proposed and used in a simulation study to evaluate different inhomogeneity compensation methods. Also, the photon fluence rate incident on the detector in a scanner in clinical use today is investigated for different patient sizes through dose rate measurements together with simulations of transmission through patient im- ages. In the second part, a prototype detector module is used to demonstrate new applications enabled by the energy resolution of the detector. The ability to generate material-specific images of contrast agents with iodine and gadolinium is demonstrated. Furthermore, it is shown theoretically and ex- perimentally that interfaces in the image can be visualized by imaging the so-called nonlinear partial volume effect. The results suggest that the studied silicon-strip detector is a promising candidate for photon-counting CT.
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| 49. |
- Persson, Mats, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
-
Subpixel x-ray imaging with an energy-resolving detector
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medical Imaging. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 2329-4302 .- 2329-4310. ; 5:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The detector pixel size can be a severe limitation in x-ray imaging of fine details in the human body. We demonstrate a method of using spectral x-ray measurements to image the spatial distribution of the linear attenuation coefficient on a length scale smaller than one pixel, based on the fact that interfaces parallel to the x-ray beam have a unique spectral response, which distinguishes them from homogeneous materials. We evaluate the method in a simulation study by simulating projection imaging of the border of an iodine insert with 200 mg/ml I in a soft tissue phantom. The results show that the projected iodine profile can be recovered with an RMS resolution of 5% to 34% of the pixel size, using an ideal energy-resolving detector. We also validate this method in an experimental study by imaging an iodine insert in a polyethylene phantom using a photon-counting silicon-strip detector. The results show that abrupt and gradual transitions can be distinguished based on the transmitted x-ray spectrum, in good agreement with simulations. The demonstrated method may potentially be used for improving visualization of blood vessel boundaries, e.g., in acute stroke care.
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| 50. |
- Persson, Mats, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
-
Upper limits of the photon fluence rate on CT detectors : case study on a commercial scanner
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Purpose: The highest photon fluence rate that a CT detector must be able to measure is animportant parameter. We calculate the maximum transmitted fluence rate in a commercial CT scanner as a function of patient size for standard head, chest and abdomen protocols.Method: We scanned an anthropomorphic phantom (Kyoto Kagaku PBU-60) with the reference CT protocols provided by AAPM on a GE LightSpeed VCT scanner and noted the tube currentapplied with the tube current modulation (TCM) system. By rescaling this tube current usingpublished measurements on the tube current modulation of a GE scanner we could estimate the tube current that these protocols would have resulted in for other patient sizes. An ECG gatedchest protocol was also simulated. Using measured dose rate profiles along the bowtie filters, wesimulated imaging of anonymized patient images with a range of sizes on a GE VCT scanner andcalculated the maximum transmitted fluence rate. In addition, the 99th and the 95th percentilesof the transmitted fluence rate distribution behind the patient are calculated and the effect of omitting projection lines passing just below the skin line is investigated.Results: The highest transmitted fluence rates on the detector for the AAPM reference protocolswith centered patients are found for head and chest images of small patients, with a maximumof 7.1 · 107 mm−2 s−1 for head and 9.6 · 107 mm−2 s−1 for chest. Miscentering the head by 50 mm downwards increases the maximum transmitted fluence rate to 3.9 · 108 mm−2 s−1 . The ECG gatedchest protocol gives fluence rates up to 2.3 · 108 − 2.4 · 108 mm−2 s−1 depending on miscentering.Conclusion: The fluence rate on a CT detector reaches 1 · 108 − 4 · 108 mm−2 s−1 in standardimaging protocols, with the highest rates occurring for ECG gated chest and miscentered headscans. These results will be useful to developers of CT detectors, in particular photon countingdetectors.
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