<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In the present paper, some imaging properties of nanoparticles-based contrast agents including gold, bismuth, and silver were assessed and compared with conventional (iodinated) contrast agent in spectral computed tomography (CT). A spectral CT scanner with photon-counting detectors (PCD) and 6 energy bins was simulated using the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation method. The nanoparticles were designed with a diameter of 50 nm at concentrations of 2, 4, and 8 mg/ml. Water-filled cylindrical phantom was modeled with a diameter of 10 cm containing a hole with a diameter of 5 cm in its center, where was filled with contrast agents. The MC results were used to reconstruct images. Image reconstruction was accomplished with the filtered back-projection (FBP) method with hamming filter and linear interpolation method. CT number and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of all studied contrast materials were calculated in spectral images. The simulations indicated that nanoparticle-based contrast agents have a higher CT number and CNR than the iodinated contrast agent at the same concentration and for all energy bins. In general, gold nanoparticles produced the highest CT number and CNR compared to silver and bismuth nanoparticles at the same concentration. However, at low energies (below 80 keV), silver nanoparticles performed similarly to gold nanoparticles and at high energies (120 keV), bismuth nanoparticles can be a good substitute for gold nanoparticles.</p></abstract>

In the present paper, some imaging properties of nanoparticles-based contrast agents including gold, bismuth, and silver were assessed and compared with conventional (iodinated) contrast agent in spectral computed tomography (CT). A spectral CT scanner with photon-counting detectors (PCD) and 6 energy bins was simulated using the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation method. The nanoparticles were designed with a diameter of 50 nm at concentrations of 2, 4, and 8 mg/ml. Water-filled cylindrical phantom was modeled with a diameter of 10 cm containing a hole with a diameter of 5 cm in its center, where was filled with contrast agents. The MC results were used to reconstruct images. Image reconstruction was accomplished with the filtered back-projection (FBP) method with hamming filter and linear interpolation method. CT number and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of all studied contrast materials were calculated in spectral images. The simulations indicated that nanoparticle-based contrast agents have a higher CT number and CNR than the iodinated contrast agent at the same concentration and for all energy bins. In general, gold nanoparticles produced the highest CT number and CNR compared to silver and bismuth nanoparticles at the same concentration. However, at low energies (below 80 keV), silver nanoparticles performed similarly to gold nanoparticles and at high energies (120 keV), bismuth nanoparticles can be a good substitute for gold nanoparticles.

Investigation of imaging properties of novel contrast agents based on gold, silver and bismuth nanoparticles in spectral computed tomography using Monte Carlo simulation

Polish Journal of Medical Physics and Engineering

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

In the present paper, some imaging properties of nanoparticles-based contrast agents including gold, bismuth, and silver were assessed and compared with...

Investigation of imaging properties of novel contrast agents based on gold, silver and bismuth nanoparticles in spectral computed tomography using Monte Carlo simulation

Published Online: Apr 03, 2020

Page range: 21 - 29

Received: Oct 02, 2019

Accepted: Feb 18, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pjmpe-2020-0003

Keywords
spectral CT, photon-counting detector, contrast agent, Monte Carlo simulation, nanoparticles

© 2020 Maryam Sadeghian et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Investigation of imaging properties of novel contrast agents based on gold, silver and bismuth nanoparticles in spectral computed tomography using Monte Carlo simulation

Published Online: Apr 03, 2020

Page range: 21 - 29

Received: Oct 02, 2019

Accepted: Feb 18, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pjmpe-2020-0003

Keywordsspectral CT, photon-counting detector, contrast agent, Monte Carlo simulation, nanoparticles

© 2020 Maryam Sadeghian et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
spectral CT, photon-counting detector, contrast agent, Monte Carlo simulation, nanoparticles