Imaging performance in differential phase contrast CT compared with the conventional CT–Noise equivalent quanta NEQ(k)

The grating-based x-ray differential phase contrast (DPC) CT is emerging as a new technology with the potential for extensive preclinical and clinical applications. In general, the performance of an imaging system is jointly determined by its signal property (modulation transfer function–MTF(k)) and noise property (noise power spectrum–NPS(k)), which is characterized by its spectrum of noise equivalent quanta. As reported by us previously, owing to an adoption of the Hilbert filtering for image reconstruction in the fashion of filtered backprojection (FBP), the noise property of DPC-CT characterized by its NPS(k) differs drastically from that of the conventional attenuation-based CT (1/|k| trait vs. |k| trait). In this work, via system analysis, modeling and simulated phantom study, we initially investigate the signal property of DPC-CT characterized by its MTF(k) and compare it with that of the conventional CT. In addition, we investigate the DPC-CT’s spectrum of noise equivalent quanta NEQ(k) – the most important figure of merit (FOM) in the assessment of an imaging system’s performance – by taking the MTF(k) and NPS(k) jointly into account. Through such a thorough investigation into both the signal and noise properties, the imaging performance of DPC-CT and its potential over the conventional attenuation-based CT can be fully understood and appreciated.