Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning framework

Traditional inspection technology for cargo or container imaging in customs and harbours is MeV X-ray radiography. The biggest limitation for this technology is the structural overlapping problem, which is inherent to radiography technology. MeV dual energy CT has a major advantage over radiography...

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Main Authors: Wei Fang, Liang Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-04-01
Series:Results in Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211379722001693
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author Wei Fang
Liang Li
author_facet Wei Fang
Liang Li
author_sort Wei Fang
collection DOAJ
description Traditional inspection technology for cargo or container imaging in customs and harbours is MeV X-ray radiography. The biggest limitation for this technology is the structural overlapping problem, which is inherent to radiography technology. MeV dual energy CT has a major advantage over radiography in that it can provide cross-section image, which is free of the structural overlapping problem. Besides, the recorded dual-energy projection data provides the ability for material decomposition. Electron density image and effective atom number image can be further calculated from the material decomposition coefficient images. However, the quality of effective atom number image can be very poor. The behind reasons are multifaceted. In this paper we proposed an Attenuation Image Referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation method for MeV dual-energy container CT imaging by using an image-domain neural network. The network has three channels as input and outputs with the estimated effective atom number image. The input three channels include the low and high-energy attenuation images and the effective atom number image that was directly calculated by using the derived formula. The network utilizes the low and high-energy attenuation image as guidance or reference for the restoration of effective atom number image. The network was trained on synthetic data, which is based on the shape of XCAT model but filled with materials that often appear in security imaging. The trained network also performed well on experimental data, showing the robustness and good generalization ability of the network. The quantitative analysis on the simulation and experimental data that comes from actual MeV dual-energy CT system showed the effectiveness of the proposed Attenuation Image Referenced (AIR) deep learning method for effective atom number image calculation.
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spelling doaj.art-7d1a978df4c2404e89b7b1bf869d68a72022-12-21T21:10:37ZengElsevierResults in Physics2211-37972022-04-0135105406Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning frameworkWei Fang0Liang Li1Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Key Laboratory of Particle, Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education 100084, ChinaDepartment of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Key Laboratory of Particle, Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education 100084, China; Corresponding author.Traditional inspection technology for cargo or container imaging in customs and harbours is MeV X-ray radiography. The biggest limitation for this technology is the structural overlapping problem, which is inherent to radiography technology. MeV dual energy CT has a major advantage over radiography in that it can provide cross-section image, which is free of the structural overlapping problem. Besides, the recorded dual-energy projection data provides the ability for material decomposition. Electron density image and effective atom number image can be further calculated from the material decomposition coefficient images. However, the quality of effective atom number image can be very poor. The behind reasons are multifaceted. In this paper we proposed an Attenuation Image Referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation method for MeV dual-energy container CT imaging by using an image-domain neural network. The network has three channels as input and outputs with the estimated effective atom number image. The input three channels include the low and high-energy attenuation images and the effective atom number image that was directly calculated by using the derived formula. The network utilizes the low and high-energy attenuation image as guidance or reference for the restoration of effective atom number image. The network was trained on synthetic data, which is based on the shape of XCAT model but filled with materials that often appear in security imaging. The trained network also performed well on experimental data, showing the robustness and good generalization ability of the network. The quantitative analysis on the simulation and experimental data that comes from actual MeV dual-energy CT system showed the effectiveness of the proposed Attenuation Image Referenced (AIR) deep learning method for effective atom number image calculation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211379722001693MeV container CTMaterial decompositionEffective atom number calculationDeep Learning
spellingShingle Wei Fang
Liang Li
Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning framework
Results in Physics
MeV container CT
Material decomposition
Effective atom number calculation
Deep Learning
title Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning framework
title_full Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning framework
title_fullStr Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning framework
title_full_unstemmed Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning framework
title_short Attenuation image referenced (AIR) effective atom number image calculation for MeV dual-energy container CT using image-domain deep learning framework
title_sort attenuation image referenced air effective atom number image calculation for mev dual energy container ct using image domain deep learning framework
topic MeV container CT
Material decomposition
Effective atom number calculation
Deep Learning
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211379722001693
work_keys_str_mv AT weifang attenuationimagereferencedaireffectiveatomnumberimagecalculationformevdualenergycontainerctusingimagedomaindeeplearningframework
AT liangli attenuationimagereferencedaireffectiveatomnumberimagecalculationformevdualenergycontainerctusingimagedomaindeeplearningframework