UW Radiology Installs Generation 3 Silicon-Based Photon Counting Scanner

The collaborative relationship between UW Radiology and GE Healthcare continues to spur on innovation in radiology. In the newest chapter of this partnership, beginning in November 2022, a prototype deep silicon photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) scanner will be evaluated at the Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research (WIMR). This technology has the potential to improve both spatial and spectral resolution of CT imaging, a breakthrough that could increase imaging performance across care areas.

The project will be led by Timothy Szczykutowicz, PhD and Meghan Lubner, MD. Their team has two main aims: First, to provide feedback to GE engineers and scientists to guide future optimizations of the scanner to address clinical needs. To reflect this focus, the study team also includes radiologists from several sub-specialities across the Department.

Second, the study will assess the PCCT’s performance on the image quality issues that often affect conventional conventional CT scanners. A normal CT scanner is based on energy-integrating CT (EICT) detection technology. Photon counting technology is entirely different, and has exciting possibilities for image quality and, therefore, diagnostic accuracy.

The study team will examine five specific features of the scanner’s performance.

1. Opportunistic screening describes how well the CT numbers of a subject can be determined as that subject’s size changes.

2. Noise streaking, the artifactual lines across a CT image due to low signal levels, may be reduced in the PCCT scanner, as compared to the conventional EICT scanner.

3. Calcium scoring measures the scanner’s ability to find and quantify the density and size of calcium in the body.

4. Metal artifact reduction, or MAR, will measure the PCCT scanner’s imaging quality in the presence of metal, which can cause large black and white bands on the image.

5. The spatial resolution of the PCCT scanner will also be evaluated.

Each of these features has a powerful effect on image quality, and therefore, diagnostic accuracy.

The team at UW–Madison believe that this new method of scanning might be leveraged for better and more accurate diagnostics. Their study’s evaluation of the PCCT scanner is a crucial step towards improved imaging performance.