Quasimonochromatic x-ray computed tomography by the balanced filter method using a conventional x-ray source

A quasi monochromatic x-ray computed tomography (CT) system utilizing balanced filters has recently been developed for acquiring quantitative CT images. This system consisted of basic components such as a conventional x-ray generator for radiography, a stage for mounting and rotating objects, and an x-ray line sensor camera. Metallic sheets of Er and Yb were used as the balanced filters for obtaining quasi monochromatic incident x rays that include the characteristic lines of the W Kalpha doublet from a tungsten target. The mean energy and energy width of the quasimonochromatic x rays were determined to be 59.0 and 1.9 keV, respectively, from x-ray spectroscopic measurements using a high-purity Ge detector. The usefulness of the present x-ray CT system was demonstrated by obtaining spatial distributions of the linear attenuation coefficients of three selected samples-a 20 cm diameter cylindrical water phantom, a 3.5 cm diameter aluminum rod, and a human head phantom. The results clearly indicate that this apparatus is surprisingly effective for estimating, the distribution of the linear attenuation coefficients without any correction of the beam-hardening effect. Thus, implementing the balanced filter method on an x-ray CT scanner has promise in producing highly quantitative CT images. (C) 2004 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.