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An inhomogeneous most likely path formalism for proton computed tomography

PURPOSE: Multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) poses a challenge in proton CT (pCT) image reconstruction. The assumption of straight paths is replaced with Bayesian models of the most likely path (MLP). Current MLP-based pCT reconstruction approaches assume a water scattering environment. We propose an...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Brooke, Mark D., Penfold, Scott N.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7026699/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32036335
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2020.01.025
Descripción
Sumario:PURPOSE: Multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) poses a challenge in proton CT (pCT) image reconstruction. The assumption of straight paths is replaced with Bayesian models of the most likely path (MLP). Current MLP-based pCT reconstruction approaches assume a water scattering environment. We propose an MLP formalism based on accurate determination of scattering moments in inhomogeneous media. METHODS: Scattering power relative to water (RScP) was calculated for a range of human tissues and investigated against relative stopping power (RStP). Monte Carlo simulation was used to compare the new inhomogeneous MLP formalism to the water approach in a slab geometry and a human head phantom. An MLP-Spline-Hybrid method was investigated for improved computational efficiency. RESULTS: A piecewise-linear correlation between RStP and RScP was shown, which may assist in iterative pCT reconstruction. The inhomogeneous formalism predicted Monte Carlo proton paths through a water cube with thick bone inserts to within 1.0 mm for beams ranging from 210 to 230 MeV incident energy. Improvement in accuracy over the conventional MLP ranged from 5% for a 230 MeV beam to 17% for 210 MeV. There was no noticeable gain in accuracy when predicting 200 MeV proton paths through a clinically relevant human head phantom. The MLP-Spline-Hybrid method reduced computation time by half while suffering negligible loss of accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: We have presented an MLP formalism that accounts for material composition. In most clinical cases a water scattering environment can be assumed, however in certain cases of significant heterogeneity the proposed algorithm may improve proton path estimation.