Beam hardening correction for a cone-beam CT system and its effect on spatial resolution

In this paper, we present a beam hardening correction (BHC) method in three-dimension space for a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) system in a mono-material case and investigate its effect on the spatial resolution. Due to the polychromatic character of the X-ray spectrum used, cupping and streak artifacts called beam hardening artifacts arise in the reconstructed CT images, causing reduced image quality. In addition, enhanced edges are introduced in the reconstructed CT images because of the beam hardening effect. The spatial resolution of the CBCT system is calculated from the edge response function (ERF) on different planes in space. Thus, in the CT images with beam hardening artifacts, enhanced ERFs will be extracted to calculate the modulation transfer function (MTF), obtaining a better spatial resolution that deviates from the real value. Reasonable spatial resolution can be obtained after reducing the artifacts. The 10% MTF value and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the point spread function with and without BHC are presented.     

Measurement of spatial resolution of the micro-CT system

The performance test is an important and necessary work for the micro-CT （computed tomography） system. The focal spot size of the micro focus X-ray tube is measured. The method of measuring the spatial resolution of micro-CT is introduced. A line-pair resolution of 28.2 lp/mm at the 10% modulation transfer function （MTF） level can be achieved with 14.7 μm spot size, 12.3 μm voxel size and a 25 mm field of view. In addition, a tungsten wire with the diameter of 5 μm can be detected by the system.