Fan-beam monochromatic x-ray CT using fluorescent x rays excited by synchrotron radiation

Monochromatic x-ray CT has several advantages over conventional CT, which utilizes bremsstrahlung white x-rays from an x-ray tube. Although various types of monochromatic x-ray CT systems using synchrotron radiation have been developed using a parallel x-ray beam for imaging of small samples with a high spatial resolution, imaging of large objects such as the human body have not been developed yet. We have developed a fan-beam monochromatic x-ray CT using fluorescent x-rays generated by irradiating metal targets by synchrotron radiation. A CdTe linear array detector of 512 mm sensitive width was used in the photon counting mode. We made phantom experiments using fluorescent x-rays ranging from 32 to 75 keV. Monochromatic x-ray CT images of a cylindrical lucite phantom filled with several contrast media have been obtained. Measured CT numbers are compared with linear attenuation coefficients, and they showed a good linearity over a wide range of contrast media concentrations.