A Simple Scatter Reduction Method in Cone-Beam Computed Tomography for Dental and Maxillofacial Applications Based on Monte Carlo Simulation

The quality of images obtained from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is important in diagnosis and treatment planning for dental and maxillofacial applications. However, X-ray scattering inside a human head is one of the main factors that cause a drop in image quality, especially in the CBCT system with a wide-angle cone-beam X-ray source and a large area detector. In this study, the X-ray scattering distribution within a standard head phantom was estimated using the Monte Carlo method based on Geant4. Due to small variation of low-frequency scattering signals, the scattering signals from the head phantom can be represented as the simple predetermined scattering signals from a patient's head and subtracted the projection data for scatter reduction. The results showed higher contrast and less cupping artifacts on the reconstructed images of the head phantom and real patients. Furthermore, the same simulated scattering signals can also be applied to process with higher-resolution projection data.