CT Tube Voltage and Current Optimization for Dose Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current CT scans face a challenge in balancing x-ray radiation exposure and image quality, as standard protocols do not account for individual patient differences, leading to either high noise and poor contrast or excessive radiation.
Innovation Solution
An imaging method and system that perform a low-dose preparatory scan to estimate image quality and radiation dose, optimizing tube voltage and current profiles on a view-by-view basis to generate optimal settings for subsequent acquisition scans, thereby personalizing the scanning protocol to reduce radiation dose while maintaining image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the intensity of x-ray exposure is increased to improve image quality, then image quality is improved, but the patient absorbs additional x-ray radiation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamic tube voltage and current modulation during the CT scan, adjusting parameters in real-time based on view angle and patient anatomy. The system dynamically optimizes tube voltage and current profiles to maintain optimal image quality while minimizing radiation dose, rather than using fixed parameters throughout the scan.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes multiple parameters including tube voltage, tube current, and their temporal profiles to optimize the balance between image quality and radiation dose. The system generates and applies optimized voltage and current waveforms that vary over time and across different views to achieve the ALARA principle.
2Ease of operation
If standard scan protocols are used for all patients, then scanning is simplified, but image quality and dose do not account for individual patient differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs a preliminary low-dose preparatory scan to acquire baseline image quality and dose information. This preliminary action enables the system to calculate optimized tube voltage and current profiles specific to each patient before the main acquisition scan, allowing personalized optimization without complicating the overall scanning process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the patient's own anatomical characteristics and the preliminary scan data to automatically generate and apply optimized scanning parameters. The optimization process is self-contained, using the patient's specific anatomy and response to determine the optimal voltage and current profiles without requiring manual intervention.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for personalized optimization of tube voltage and current profiles, achieving the best image quality and dose tradeoff specific to each patient, reducing radiation exposure while ensuring diagnostic-quality images.
Implementation Method 1
an x-ray source, such as an x-ray emitting tube, rotates around the longitudinal axis of the patient while emitting x-ray radiation
Implementation Method 2
the patient absorbs a portion of the x-ray energy, known as the radiation dose
Data Source
AI summary
An imaging method includes executing a low-dose preparatory scan to an object by applying tube voltages and tube currents in an x-ray source, and generating a first image of the object corresponding to the low-dose preparatory scan. The method further includes generating image quality estimates and dose estimates view by view at least based on the first image. The method includes optimizing the tube voltages and the tube currents to generate optimal profiles for the tube voltage and the tube current. At least one of the optimal profiles for the tube voltage and the tube current is generated based on the image quality estimates and the dose estimates. The method includes executing an acquisition scan by applying the tube voltages and the tube currents based on the optimal profiles and generating a second image of the object corresponding to the acquisition scan. An imaging system is also provided.