Changes in the linear attenuation coefficient of polymer gel dosimeters post-irradiation enable the imaging of dose distributions by x-ray computed tomography (CT). Various compositions of polymer gel dosimeters manufactured from acrylamide (AA), and N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide (BIS) comonomers and gelatin or agarose gelling agents were investigated. This work shows that increasing the comono...

background: in radiation therapy, water is the phantom material of choice, both for reference and for relative dosimetry measurements. solid phantoms, however, are more useful for routine measurements because they tend to be more robust and easier to set up than water phantoms. materials and methods: fluka input data cards have been arranged in sequential order. a simple cylindrical geometry wi...

Radiation dose in x-ray computed tomography (CT) has become a topic of high interest due to the increasing numbers of CT examinations performed worldwide. This review aims to present an overview of current concepts for both scanner output metrics and for patient dosimetry and will comment on their strengths and weaknesses. Controversial issues such as the appropriateness of the CT dose index (C...

The large variation of x-ray fluence at the detector in cone-beam CT (CBCT) poses a significant challenge to detectors' limited dynamic range, resulting in the loss of skinline as well as reduction of CT number accuracy, contrast-to-noise ratio, and image uniformity. The authors investigate the performance of a bowtie filter implemented in a system for image-guided radiation therapy (Elekta onc...

We investigated performance of ultrafast (30 fs –200 fs) laser-based x-ray source as an alternative to a microfocal x-ray tube used in micro-CT systems. A number of solid targets including Ge, Mo, Rh, Ag, Sn, Ba, La, Nd with matching filters was used. We optimized conditions for x-rays generation, measured x-ray spectra and obtained images of small animals using various characteristic x-ray lin...

The monochromatic images acquired by Gemstone spectral imaging (GSI) mode on the GE CT750 HD theoretically determines the computed tomography (CT) number more accurately than that of conventional scanner. Using the former, the CT number is calculated from (synthesized) monoenergetic X-ray data. We reasoned that the monochromatic image might be applied to radiotherapy treatment planning (RTP) to...

Exploiting sparsity in the image gradient magnitude has proved to be an effective means for reducing the sampling rate in the projection view angle in computed tomography (CT). Most of the image reconstruction algorithms, developed for this purpose, solve a nonsmooth convex optimization problem involving the image total variation (TV). The TV seminorm is the `1 norm of the image gradient magnit...

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) dosimetry makes use of two radiation parameters: a volume CT dose index (CTDI) and a dose length product (DLP). The volume CTDI quantifies the intensity of the radiation used to perform CT examinations, whereas DLP quantifies the amount of radiation used. CTDI metrics can be converted into patient dose metrics by using dose/CTDI conversion factors. In cardiac CT...

Background:  This study presents patient specific and organ dose estimation in computed tomography (CT) imaging of thorax directly from patient CT image using Monte Carlo simulation.  Patient's CT image is considered as the patient specific phantom and the best representative of patient physical index in order to calculate specific organ dose. Materials and Methods: EGSnrc /BEAMnr...

Absorption based CT imaging has been an invaluable tool in medical diagnosis, biology, and materials science. However, CT requires a large set of projection data and high radiation dose to achieve superior image quality. In this letter, we report a new imaging modality, X-ray Induced Acoustic Tomography (XACT), which takes advantages of high sensitivity to X-ray absorption and high ultrasonic r...