title: Monte-Carlo simulation of a slot-scanning X-ray imaging system.
abstract: We present a method for simulating slot-scanning X-ray imaging using the general-purpose Monte Carlo simulation package PENELOPE and penEasy Imaging. Different phantoms can be defined with the PENGEOM package, which defines bodies as combinations of volumes limited by quadric surfaces. The source-detector geometry, the position of the object, the collimator, the X-ray tube properties, the detector material and the pixel dimensions are defined. The output of the time-delay integration detector is simulated using sequential slot outputs derived from penEasy Imaging. The simulations are validated using tungsten and aluminium test objects, which are both simulated and imaged. The simulations are compared to the X-ray images using standard image quality metrics. The MTF, NPS and DQE curves show that the real and simulated X-ray images are comparable in terms of spatial resolution, noise and frequency information. The implementation can be modified to suit alterations in the system being simulated.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Electronic address: mayuresh87@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mayuresh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Electronic address: rdendere@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dendere
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Electronic address: fred.nicolls@uct.ac.za.
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nicolls
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa; Lodox Systems, Sandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
authors.forename: Stef
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Electronic address: tania@ieee.org.
authors.forename: Tania S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011381:Programming Languages; D011859:Radiography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D014965:X-Rays
keywords: Monte-Carlo; Simulation; Slot-scanning; X-ray