An efficient method to estimate noise in computed tomography images

Axel Thran; Ewald Roessl; Roland Proksa

doi:10.1117/12.911278

3 March 2012 An efficient method to estimate noise in computed tomography images

Axel Thran, Ewald Roessl, Roland Proksa

Proceedings Volume 8313, Medical Imaging 2012: Physics of Medical Imaging; 83132A (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.911278
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Image noise is an important aspect when optimizing CT system parameters. For example in multi-energy CT the statistical error in material images is of high interest. It has been shown that the statistical error of individual line integrals can be quantified by the Cramér-Rao lower bound, but it is not straightforward to estimate the noise in the corresponding material images in a time-efficient way, since for an exact calculation a large number of projections has to be taken into account. This paper introduces a way to approximate the image noise by using noise estimates of only a few line integrals. The method is exemplified using simulated dual energy CT data, and the results are shown to closely correspond with Monte Carlo outcomes. The method provides a fast alternative to Monte Carlo simulations in order to calculate the image noise depending on various system parameters, which is very helpful, e.g., for system design.

Citation Download Citation

Axel Thran, Ewald Roessl, and Roland Proksa "An efficient method to estimate noise in computed tomography images", Proc. SPIE 8313, Medical Imaging 2012: Physics of Medical Imaging, 83132A (3 March 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.911278

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