Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is an experimental and preclinical technique with demonstrated capability of
eradicating tumors while sparing normal tissues from radiation damage. We have proposed the design of a microbeam
radiation device using a carbon nanotube (CNT) field emission x-ray source. The key enabling technology is the CNT
based spatially distributed x-ray technology. The proposed MRT system has a unique square system geometry with the
radiations shining on the targeting tumor positioned at the center of the square. A high microbeam dose rate is achieved
by distributing the electron energy over multiple elongated focal tracks with a significantly larger area and therefore
higher heat capacity compared to a conventional x-ray source with a point focal spot. Meanwhile the efficiency of the xray
photons going through the narrow microbeam collimator, thus the dose rate, is greatly increased by making the
effective width of the focal track comparable to that of the microbeam collimator opening. In order to achieve the desired
focal track on the anode, a commercial software package (Opera 3D, Cobham plc) was used to simulate and design the
optimal line focusing lens. The finalized design was based on a two-electrode Einzel focusing lens configuration. The
simulation shows the two-stage electrostatic focusing lens is capable of providing the 100μm effective focal spot size
required for the proposed microbeam x-ray with 100μm beam width. The recent focal spot size measurement performed
using a testing x-ray chamber has also verified the simulation results.
KEYWORDS: Electron beams, Veins, Medical imaging applications, Computed tomography, Medical imaging, Beam shaping, Physics, Electrodes, Carbon nanotubes, Medical research
Field emission electron sources have been increasingly investigated and practiced as cold electron sources for many Xray
generation mechanisms especially in certain medical imaging applications, such as computed tomography (CT). In a
field emission electron source, the emission current and cathode life are the two key performance parameters of interests.
Conventional field emission electron source in the form of a 2-dimensional single surface cathode design is often
undergoing the bottleneck of limited emission current. Higher current can be obtained by increasing the strength of
driving electric field. However this is at the expense of a reduced cathode life. In this paper we present a novel field
emission electron source design based on a 3-dimensional semi-enclosed cavity structure, by utilizing the cavity’s
multiple inner faces as electron emission surfaces. The cavity has one bottom inner face open for electron ejection, the
area of which was kept the same as a conventional single surface cathode to maintain the same initial electron beam
cross section. The extended emission area of the new cathode design due to its 3-dimensional structure provides a higher
electron emission current while maintaining the same beam cross section, resulting in an improved effective emission
current density. We have demonstrated a significantly increased electron emission current from this 3-dimensional
cathode under a constant electric field, without over-driving the cathode field emitters. Alternatively this new cathode
design can also achieve the same total emission current with a lower electric field compared with a conventional 2-
dimensional cathode, which will significantly extend its life.
X-ray scatter may significantly degrade imaging performance in x-ray radiography applications, including flatpanel
detector-based x-ray imaging, tomosynthesis, and cone-beam CT (CBCT), primarily due to their large projection
field sizes. It results in soft tissue contrast reduction, potentially severe image artifacts, and increased patient dose.
Several different approaches have been developed to reject the scatter contributions, including analytical calculation,
empirical algorithms, Monte-Carlo simulation, blocker based measurement, and slot scan technique. We recently
developed a new x-ray scatter rejection method based on nanotechnology-enabled frequency division multiplexing x-ray
(FDMX) imaging technique. The key enabling technology is the carbon nanotube (CNT)-based multi-beam field
emission x-ray (MBFEX) source technology. The proposed FDMX imaging system has a MBFEX source with an array
of x-ray tubes. The x-ray radiation from each individual x-ray tube is modulated at a certain given frequency. The
collimated x-ray beams passed through the object and were captured by a high speed x-ray detector. A demultiplexing
algorithm was applied to reject the scatter radiation from the primary radiation based on their different modulation
frequencies. The x-ray images generated by the FDMX imaging technique clearly demonstrated improved imaging
quality in terms of lower scatter-to-primary-ratio (SPR) and higher contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR). It shows great
potential of improving x-ray imaging performance and reducing patient dose.
Multiplexing technique has been widely used in telecommunication, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and
various spectroscopic applications to drastically increase system throughput. In the field of radiology, however, it was
just getting started to attract researchers' attention recently due to the development of multi-beam x-ray source
technology, especially the emergence of carbon nanotube (CNT) field emission based multi-beam x-ray source. The
CNT multi-beam x-ray source provides an ideal signal source for multiplexing x-ray imaging applications because of its
capability of modulating x-ray radiation waveforms. The feasibility of multiplexing x-ray radiography has been
successfully demonstrated experimentally using a CNT field emission enabled multi-beam x-ray imaging system. The
idea of applying multiplexing radiography in computed tomography (CT) to speed up scanning speed has also been
proposed. At the same time several simulation studies on the evaluation of multiplexing x-ray imaging performance have
been reported. In this study, we reported our recent investigation on the imaging quality assessment of multiplexing xray
radiography based on the simulation work stimulated by our previous experimental experience. A computer program was written to simulate the imaging process of the as-developed multi-beam x-ray imaging system. The impacts of different noise components on multiplexing imaging quality were studied. Our preliminary results indicated that the performance of multiplexing x-ray radiography is closely related to the noise environment and x-ray tube current stability. Under appropriate imaging conditions, multiplexing radiography has the potential to achieve higher imaging speed without significantly sacrificing the imaging quality.
As a widely adopted imaging modality for pre-clinical research, micro-CT is constantly facing the need of providing
better temporal as well as spatial resolution for a variety of imaging applications. Faster CT scanning speed is also
preferred for higher imaging throughput. We recently proposed a gantry-free multi-beam micro-CT (MBμCT) design
which has the potential to overcome some of the intrinsic limitations of current rotating-gantry CT technology. To
demonstrate its feasibility, we have constructed a testing system with a multi-beam field emission x-ray (MBFEX)
source array with a linear array of 20 individually controllable x-ray emitting pixels. Based on simulations of the electron
optics and preliminary experimental measurements the design of the MBFEX source has been further optimized. The
newly designed imaging system has been characterized and commissioned following our standard imaging protocol. It
has clearly shown improved system stability and enhanced imaging capability. As a result of reduced mechanical
rotation during imaging acquisition, we are expecting to achieve higher CT scanning speed without significantly
sacrificing imaging quality. This prototype MBμCT system, although still in its early development phase, has been
proved to be an ideal testing platform for the proposed gantry-free micro-CT scanner.
Current micro-CT scanners use either one or two x-ray tubes that are mechanically rotated around an object to
collect the projection images for CT reconstruction. The rotating gantry design hinders the performance of the micro-CT
scanner including the scanning speed. Based on the newly emerged carbon nanotube based distributed multi-beam x-ray
array technology, we have proposed to build a stationary gantry-free multi-beam micro-CT (MBμCT) scanner. To
investigate the feasibility of this concept, a prototype system using a source array with 20 individually controlled x-ray
beams has been designed and tested. The prototype CT scanner can generate a scanning x-ray beam to image an object
from different viewing angles (coverage of 36°) without any rotation. The electronics and software for system control
and data have been implemented. The projected performance of the prototype MBμCT imaging system was discussed
and some preliminary imaging results were presented.
Currently all CT scanners collect the projection images sequentially, one at a time. The serial approach demands high x-ray
power which in turn limits the scanning speed of the CT scanners. To overcome the limitations of the current CT
scanners, the concept of stationary CT canners has been proposed to completely eliminate the need for gantry rotation. In
such multi-pixel x-ray system, multiple x-ray sources and detectors are distributed around the scanning tunnel. Based on
the multi-pixel x-ray system, we have recently demonstrated the feasibility of multiplexing radiography that enables
simultaneous collection of multiple projection images through multiplexing. A drastic increase of the speed and
reduction of the x-ray peak power can be potentially achieved without compromising the imaging quality. In this paper
we demonstrated novel Hadamard multiplexing radiography based on Hadamard transform technique using a carbon
nanotube based multi-pixel x-ray source. The combination of the multi-pixel x-ray and multiplexing technologies has the
potential to lead to a new generation of stationary CT scanners that have drastically increased throughput at reduced cost.
We have recently demonstrated the feasibility of frequency multiplexing radiography (FMR) technique based on the frequency division multiplexing (FDM) principle and the carbon nanotube field emission x-ray technology. The key component of the FMR technique is a multi-pixel carbon nanotube field emission x-ray source. The prototype multi-pixel x-ray source has a linear array of nine field emission x-ray pixels. By programming the control electronics, the multi-pixel x-ray source can generate spatially and temporally modulated x-ray radiation. During the multiplexing imaging process, all the x-ray pixels were turned on simultaneously with each beam modulated at different frequency. The superimposed x-ray signals generated by the multi-pixel x-ray source were captured using a high speed flat panel x-ray detector over a certain period of time. The collected composite images were then demultiplexed using a Fourier transform based algorithm to recover the original nine projection images from different view angles. The FMR technique can in principle increase the imaging speed and reduce the x-ray peak workload for applications such as computed tomography (CT). In this paper we evaluated the performance of this new radiographic imaging technique based on our simulation and experiment results. Imaging artifacts caused by the cross-talk among different frequency subchannels have been studied and the importance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been demonstrated.
State-of-the-art tomographic imaging technique is based upon of simple serial imaging scheme. The tomographic scanners collect the projection images sequentially in the time domain, by a step-and-shoot process using a single-pixel x-ray source. The inefficient serial data collection scheme severely limits the data collection speed, which is critical for imaging of objects in rapid motion such as for diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, CT fluoroscopy, and airport luggage inspection. Further improvement of the speed demands an increasingly high x-ray peak workload and gantry rotation speed, both of which have approached the engineering limits. Multiplexing technique, which has been widely adopted in communication devices and in certain analytical instruments, holds the promise to significantly increase the data throughput. It however, has not been applied to x-ray radiography, mainly due to limitations of the current x-ray source technology. Here we report a method for frequency multiplexing radiography (FMR) based on the frequency multiplexing principle and the carbon nanotube field emission x-ray technology. We show the feasibility of multiplexing radiography that enables simultaneous collection of multiple projection images. It has the potential to significantly increase the imaging speed for tomographic imaging without compromising the imaging quality.
In this study, we report a multi-beam x-ray imaging system that can generate a scanning x-ray beam to image an object from multiple projection angles without mechanical motion. The key part of this imaging system is a multi-beam field emission x-ray (MBFEX) source which comprises a linear array of gated electron emitting pixels. The pixels are individually addressable via a MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor) based electronic circuit. The device can provide a tube current of 0.1-1 mA at 40 kVp with less than 300 μm focal spot size from each of the emitting pixels. Multilayer images of different phantoms were reconstructed to demonstrate its potential applications in tomographic imaging. Since no mechanical motion is needed and the electronic switching time is generally negligible the MBFEX system has the potential to simplify the system design and lead to a fast data acquisition for tomographic imaging.
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