Photon Counting Spectral CT

Computed Tomography (CT) is one of the most commonly used medical imaging procedures and a key diagnostic tool in many areas. Every year over 100 M CT scans are performed worldwide. This is an increasing number, and only in the United States 600 000 were children below the age of 15. In Sweden several thousand infants are examined every year. The last years the radiation dose has been reduced for CT but there are still concerns, in particular for examinations of children since they are more sensitive to radiation. Our new technology will enable to further reduce the dose. A major advantage with spectral photon counting CT is that the current gray scales in the image with a physics measurement of for example iodine concentration. Energy resolution further means that that so called beam-hardening artifacts can be eliminated if the images are reconstructed in material base decomposition. All in all we believe that spectral photon counting when implemented in the clinic will be one of the most important milestones in the development of CT and have a major impact on the most common diseases today such as cancer and stroke.