BONE MINERAL ANALYSIS PHANTOM

Abstract: A phantom (A,B) has a bone mineral standard (30) surrounded by tissue equivalent material (A) with a plurality of different cross sections. The phantom (A,B) is disposed in an image region (44) of a tomographic scanner. Scans are conducted through a plurality of different cross sections of the phantom (A,B) to reconstruct a plurality of phantom image representations. The plurality of phantom image representations are stored by size in a correction memory (70). Thereafter, a patient is disposed on a patient table (50) in the image region (44) and an image is taken through the patient's mid-section between the L2 and L5 vertebrae. A patient image representation is reconstructed and stored in an image memory (64). A slice size calculation circuit (72) determines the size of the patient slice. The correction memory (70) is addressed with the calculated size to retrieve the phantom image representation of the most similar size. An image correction circuit (74) calibrates the patient image representation in accordance with the retrived phantom image representation.

Description: This invention relates to the art of medical diagnostic imaging. More particularly this invention finds application in the calibration of tomographic scanners in conjunction with the diagnosis of osteo­ porosis and will be described with particular reference thereto. It is to be appreciated, however, that the invention may find further application in conjunction with other calibrations of tomographic scanners and other medical diagnostic equipment. Osteoporosis is a disease of long duration which is characterised by a bone mineral loss. The trabecular bone, which has a turnover rate about eight times higher than cortical bone, has been shown to be a sensitive early indicator of bone mineral loss. One method of monitoring for bone mineral loss has been to examine the spine, which is approximately 65% trabecular bone with an x-ray tomographic scan. The x-ray absorption characteristics of the trabecular bone and the recon­ structed image are indicative of bone mineral content or density of the trabecular bone. One of the problems which has been encountered with x-ray tomographic scans of the trabecular bone has been calibrating the CT numbers or gray scale of the resultant image with sufficient precision to measure the amount of mineral loss accurately or to detect small mineral losses. One solution for calibrating the gray scale images is set forth in U.S. Patent 4,233,507 issued November 11, 1980 to Donald J. Volz. In the Volz technique, calibration samples or phantoms are mounted in the patient supporting surface such that the calibration samples are imaged concurrently with the selected portion of the spine. This enables the gray scale or Houndsfield numbers for an imaged area of the spine to be compared with the known Houndsfield numbers for the calibration samples. However, the Volz technique has inherent inaccuracies in the calibration attributable to alterations in the beam caused by body tissues surrounding the spine. The accuracy of the mineral content is determined by the accuracy of the CT numbers for the selected scanner and the chemical composition of the imaged bone tissue. Because the density of fat is less than that of soft tissue, it reduces the measured CT number by about 12 Houndsfield units per 10% of fat by weight. This produces an erroneous decrease in the measured bone mineral concentration. Concentrations of fat in the vertebral body of up to 40% have been reported. To reduce the magnitude of the CT number alteration attributable to fat, dual energy CT scanning techniques have been used. The image reconstruction algorithms, x-ray spatial intensity compensation filters, x-ray beam filters, and x-ray beam hardness and scanner correction methods differ among various tomographic scanners. Commonly, scanner performance has been optimized by the use of empirical corrections to the above parameters to provide a flat response to water or tissue equivalent phantoms. These empirical corrections, in many instances, have not been linear to retain quantitative reconstructions over the entire field of view. These common, non-linear quantitative corrections in many instances are not constant for all body dimensions and x-ray excitation conditions. In particular, the x-ray beam quality is different for rays emerging through the center and the periphery of large bodies as contrasted with small body sections. This beam quality difference results in variations of the CT numbers of identical bone mineral materials. This variation or shift in the CT numbers of otherwise identical bone mineral materials attributable to the amount and composition of surrounding soft tissue is uncorrected in the Volz technique. The Volz bone mineral reference samples are disposed peripherally where they are irradiated by off-focal radiation which has not passed through the same volume of soft tissue as the radiation passing through the spine. The peripheral, off-focal radiation may also introduce additional errors attributable to less accurate corrections made by shaped x-ray filters and compensators to off-focal radiation. These problems become particularly acute when multiple energies of radiations are used. In particular, the volume of surrounding soft tissue, has relatively little effect on high energy radiation; whereas, the surrounding tissue more significantly affects low energy radiation. Thus, the body fat calibration corrections become particularly complex when utilizing a dual energy tomographic reconstruction technique, as is conventionally used to correct for the effects of the presence of the unknown amount of fat that has replaced tissue in the regions of interest. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which overcomes the above referenced problems and calibrates the CT numbers in the region of the spine more accurately. According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a tomographic scanner, with bone mineral calibration, comprising: a source of penetrating radiation; a radiation detection means for detecting penetrating radiation impinging thereon; a gantry means for mounting the radiation source and the radiation detection means across an image region from each other such that the radiation beam transverses the image region and impinges on the radiation detection means; a bone mineral phantom; a phantom positioning means for positioning said phantom within said image region; a radiation moving means for moving at least the radiation beam relative to the phantom such that the radiation beam traversing the image region pene­ trates the phantom along a plurality of directions when said phantom is positioned within said image region; and an image reconstruction means for recon­ structing a representation of material density in the image region from radiation detection data from the radiation detection means, the image reconstruction means being operatively connected with the radiation detection means and the radiation moving means charac­ terised in that: said bone mineral phantom comprises a generally cylindrical bone mineral standard which extends longitudinally through said phantom and a tissue equivalent material disposed around the said standard, the tissue equivalent material having a plurality of transverse cross sections; and said phantom positioning means includes means for selectively positioning each of said plurality of transverse cross sections in said image region. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a phantom for calibrating CT scanners for bone mineral examinations characterised in that it comprises: a housing having a tapered side wall extending between a first end and a second end,the housing side wall defining a first, smaller generally ovoid cross section adjacent the first end, a second, larger generally ovoid cross section adjacent the second end and a plurality of intermediate cross sections which are larger than the first cross section and smaller than the second cross section therebetween; and a generally cylindrical bone mineral standard extending longitudinally generally between the first and second ends, whereby any one of the first, second, and intermediate cross sections are imageable in a tomographic scanner to provide a calibration reference. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of tomographic scanning comprising the steps of: (a) positoning a bone mineral phantom with a region of a tomographic scanner to be imaged; (b) rotating a source of penetrating radiation to irradiate the phantom from a plurality of directions; (c) detecting radiation which has traversed the phantom; (d) reconstructing an image representation from the detected penetrating radiation; (e) storing information from the phantom image representation; (f) repeating preceding steps (a) to (e) wherein instead of said phantom a mid-portion of a patient is disposed in the image region to reconstruct an image representation of a planar slice through the patient's mid-section; and (g) calibrating the patient image representation with the phantom image representation information character­ ised in that: said bone mineral phantom comprises a generally cylindrical bone mineral standard which extends longitudinally through said phantom, and a tissue equivalent material disposed around the said standard, the tissue equivalent material having a plurality of cross sections; the procedure of the said step (b) irradiates a planar slice of said phantom from a plurality of directions, said planar slice being one of the said plurality of cross sections; and the procedure of the said step (c) detects radiation which has traversed the said planar slice. One tomographic scanner, the calibration thereof, and a phantom in accordance with the invention will be now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the phantom; and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the tomograpgic scanner. Referring to Figure 1, the phantom includes a tissue equivalent portion A and a bone mineral equivalent portion B. The tissue equivalent portion has a first end 10 which has a first or smaller generally ovoid cross section. The first end is shaped in conform­ ity with the cross section of a smaller or skinnier pat­ ient's mid-section adjacent the L2 to L5 vertebrae. The tissue equivalent portion A further has a second end 12 which has a second or larger generally ovoid cross section. The second cross section conforms to the shape of a larger or fatter patient adjacent the L2 to L5 verte­ brae. A central portion 14 of the tissue equivalent structure has a plurality of intermediate cross sections which are larger than the first or smaller cross section and smaller than the second or larger cross section. In the preferred embodiment, the intermediate cross sections are arranged in a continuum. However, discrete cross sections may be provided. A plurality of markings 16 provide a means for indicating the transverse cross section at discrete intervals along the central portion 14 . In the preferred embodiment, the tissue equi­ valent portion includes an outer, hollow housing 20 which has an access aperture 22 therethrough to enable the interior to be filled with water or other tissue equivalent fluids. Optionally, the tissue equivalent portion could be constructed of or filled with a tissue equivalent plastic or other solid or semi-solid material. The bone mineral equivalent portion B in the preferred embodiment is a cylindrical bone mineral calibration standard 30 of a bone mineral tissue mimicking substance. In the preferred embodiment, the standard has a tubular core 32 of a trabecular bone mimicking material. A peripheral coating 34 of a cortical bone simulating material may extend around the central core 32 to simulate the effects of beam hardening in the spine due to the denser cortical bone. A flange 36 mounts the bone mineral standard 30 in approximately the same position relative to the tissue equivalent portion A as the spine is located in the human body. In the preferred embodiment, the bone mineral standard is about nine centimeters from the base and parallel thereto. Because the position of the spine and its diameter do not change significantly in persons of different girth, the bone mineral standard 30 is a fixed distance from the base and is not tapered. However, tapers and angular orientations may optionally be provided where appropriate. Moreover, additional layers or fillings of other materials, such as materials which simulate fat tissue, may also be incorporated in the bone mineral standard. As yet another option, an actual section of a spinal column may be mounted in the phantom. With reference to FIGURE 2, a tomographic scanner includes a source 40 of penetrating radiation, such as an x-ray tube. A radiation detection means 42 receives penetrating radiation which has traversed an image region 44 and a patient or other examined object disposed therein. In the preferred embodiment, the radiation detection means is a bank of scintillation crystals and photodiodes. However, other electronics which convert received radiation into electrical signals which vary in accordance with the relative intensity thereof may be used. A gantry or rotating frame means 46 supports at least the radiation source 40 for rotation about the image region 44 under the control of an electric motor or other rotating means 48. A patient support table 50 is mounted to support the phantom, a patient, or other object to be examined within the image region 44. A phantom and patient positioning means 52 selectively positions the phantom, patient, or other examined object longitudinally through the image region. The detection means 42 is connected with signal correction circuitry or means 60 which performs conventional corrections on the radiation detector data, such as beam hardness corrections, electronic filter compensations, and the like. Moreover, the signal correction means 60 may correct the radiation detector data in accordance with the data stored from previously scanned phantom sections as is explained herein below. An image reconstruction means 62 reconstructs a representation of an image of the slice of the phantom, patient, or other object disposed in the image region 44. A convolution and back projection or other known image reconstruction system may be utilized. The reconstructed image representation includes a grid of numbers which represent radiation intensity or, conversely, radiation attentuation at a corresponding pixel of the image region. The reconstructed image of a patient under examination is stored in an image memory 64 for display on a video monitor 66 or other suitable display means or for storage on tape or other electronic storage mediums. Optimally, only selected information from the image representation may be stored or displayed. Prior to imaging a patient, the phantom described in conjunction with FIGURE 1 is positioned on the patient table and examined in the image region. At least preselected information from reconstructed image representations of the phantom taken at a plurality of cross sections is stored in a correction memory 70. The size of the cross section which each image represents may be input into the correction memory directly from the positioning means 52, may be manually entered, or may be calculated by a size calculating means 72. The size calculating means determines the diameter, girth, or other dimension of a transverse slice stored in the image memory 64. After the correction memory 70 has been loaded with the phantom image representations or at least selected information therefrom, a patient is placed on the patient table and positioned such that the image region is disposed between the L2 and L5 vertebrae. A patient image representation is reconstructed from the radiation data to produce an uncorrected patient image in the image memory 64. The slice size calculation means 72 determines the diameter or other appropriate measurement of the size of the imaged patient slice. The size calculation means addresses the correction memory 70 to retrieve the phantom image representation information which corresponds to the most similarly sized cross section of the phantom. An image correction circuit or means 74 adjusts the patient image representation from the image memory 64 in accordance with the addressed phantom image representation information in the correction memory 72 to adjust or calibrate the gray scale or CT numbers with precision. Optionally, the signal correction means 60 may correct the radiation detector data in accordance with the data from the correction memory 70. The display means 66 displays the corrected image or may display the CT numbers for one or more selected pixels thereof. Although described in functional modules, the functions are preferably performed in full or in part by a suitably programmed processor or computer. In the preferred embodiment, the phantom is utilized to reload the correction memory 70 at the beginning of each period of operation. Optionally, the phantom may be used to reload the correction memory immediately before or after the examination of each patient. If the correction memory is reloaded immediately before or after each patient scan, then only the phantom portion which corresponds in size to the slice of the patient to be imaged need be examined. Moreover, it is to be appreciated that the data from high and low energy beams may be collected concurrently and processed either serially by the FIGURE 2 circuitry or in parallel by duplicate circuitry. The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. Obviously, alterations and modifications will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such alterations and modifications in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

Claims: 1. A tomographic scanner, with bone mineral calibration, comprising: a source (40) of penetrating radiation for providing at least one generally planar beam of penetrating radiation; a radiation detection means (42) for detecting penetrating radiation impinging thereon; a gantry means (46) for mounting the radiation source (40) and the radiation detection means (42) across an image region (44) from each other such that the radiation beam transverses the image region (44) and impinges on the radiation detection means (42); a bone mineral phantom (A,B); a phantom positioning means (52) for positioning said phantom (A,B) within said image region (44); a radiation moving means (48) for moving at least the radiation beam relative to the phantom (A,B) such that the radiation beam traversing the image region (44) penetrates the phantom (A,B) along a plurality of directions when said phantom (A,B) is positioned within said image region (44); and an image reconstruction means (62) for reconstructing a representation of material density in the image region (44) from radiation detection data from the radiation detection means (42), the image reconstruction means (62) being operatively connected with the radiation detection means (42) and the radiation moving means (48) characterised in that: said bone mineral phantom (A,B) comprises a generally cylindrical bone mineral standard (30) which extends longitudinally through said phantom (A,B) and a tissue equivalent material (A) disposed around the said standard (30), the tissue equivalent material having a plurality of transverse cross sections; and said phantom positioning means (52) includes means for selectively positioning each of said plurality of transverse cross sections in said image region (44). 2. A scanner according to Claim 1 further including a bone density correction memory means (70) for storing information from the material density representations representing each of said plurality of transverse cross sections through the phantom (A,B). 3. A scanner according to Claim 2 further including a correction means (74,60) for correcting at least one of the radiation detection data and the material density representation of a patient with the information from one of the material density representations stored in the correction memory means (70). 4. A scanner according to Claim 3 further including size calculating means (72) for calculating a dimension of an imaged slice of a patient and a correction memory addressing means (72) for addressing the correction memory means (70) to retrieve information from the stored representation corresponding to a like size. 5. A scanner according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said tissue equivalent material (A) is housed within a hollow phantom housing (20) having a tapered side wall extending between a first end (10) and a second end (12), the phantom housing (20) side wall defining a first, smaller, generally ovoid cross section adjacent the first end (10) and a second,generally larger cross section adjacent the second end (12) the phantom housing (20) having a plurality of intermediate cross sections between the first (10) and second (12) ends which intermediate cross sections are larger than the first cross section and smaller than the second cross section. 6. A scanner according to Claim 5 wherein the phantom housing (20) further includes access means (22) for enabling the phantom housing (20) to be filled with said tissue equivalent material (A). 7. A scanner according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 wherein the bone mineral standard (30) includes a first cylindrical portion (32) which mimics the standards of trabecular bone mineral tissue and a surrounding layer (34) which mimics cortial bone mineral tissue. 8. A scanner according to Claim 7 wherein the phantom housing (20) has a continuum of intermediate cross sections between the first (10) and second (12) ends and further includes markings (16) indicating cross sectional sizes along the intermediate housing portion (14). 9. A phantom (A,B) for calibrating CT scanners for bone mineral examinations characterised in that it comprises: a housing (20) having a tapered side wall extending between a first end (10) and a second end (12) the housing side wall defining a first, smaller generally ovoid cross section adjacent the first end, a second, larger generally ovoid cross section adjacent the second end and a plurality of intermediate cross sections which are larger than the first cross section and smaller than the second cross section there­ between; and a generally cylindrical bone mineral standard (30)extending longitudinally generally between the first (10) and second (12) ends, whereby any one of the first, second, and intermediate cross sections are imageable in a tomographic scanner to provide a calibra­ tion reference. 10. A phantom (A,B) according to Claim 9 wherein the housing (20) is hollow and includes an access opening (22) for receiving water or other tissue equivalent fluid(A) therein. 11. A phantom (A,B) according to Claim 10 wherein the housing (20) defines a continuum of intermediate cross sections. 12. A phantom (A,B) according to Claim 11 further including markings (16) disposed along the housing (20) to indicate cross sectional areas thereof. 13. A phantom (A,B) according to any one of Claims 9 to 12 wherein the bone mineral standard (30) comprises a first cylindrical bone mineral standard (32) around which circumferentially extends a second bone mineral standard (34). 14. A phantom (A,B) according to Claim 13 wherein the first bone mineral standard (32) mimics the characteristics of trabecular bones and wherein the second bone mineral standard (34) mimics the character­ istics of cortial bone tissue. 15. A method of tomographic scanning comprising the steps of: (a) positioning a bone mineral phantom (A,B) within a region (44) of a tomographic scanner to be imaged; (b) rotating a source (40) of penetrating radiation to irradiate the phantom (A,B) from a plurality of directions; (c) detecting radiation which has tra­ versed the phantom (A,B); (d) reconstructing an image representation from the detected penetrating radiation; (e) storing information from the phantom image represen­ tation; (f) repeating preceding steps (a) to (e) wherein instead of said phantom a mid-portion of a patient is disposed in the image region (44) to reconstruct an image representation of a planar slice through the patient's mid-section; and (g) calibrating the patient image representation with the phantom image representation information characterised in that: said bone mineral phantom (A,B) comprises a generally cylindrical bone mineral standard (30) which extends longitudinally through said phantom (A,B) and a tissue equivalent material (A) disposed around the said standard (30), the tissue equivalent material having a plurality of cross sections; the procedure of the said step (b) irradiates a planar slice of said phantom (A,B) from a plurality of directions, said planar slice being one of the said plurality of cross sections; and the procedure of the said step (c) detects radiation which has traversed the said planer slice. 16. A method according to Claim 15 further includ­ ing repeating steps (a) to (e) for a plurality of different cross sectional sizes of the phantom (A,B) and further including determining a size of the imaged slice of the patient and correcting the patient image representation with information from the most similarly sized phantom (A,B) image representation. 17. A method according to Claim 16 wherein the patient is imaged between the L2 and L5 vertebrae. 18. A method according to Claim 17 wherein the bone mineral standard (30) mimics the characteristics of at least trabecular bone mineral tissue. 19. A method according to Claim 18 wherein the bone mineral standard (30) further mimics the character­ istics of surrounding cortical bone tissue.

Inventors: MATTSON, RODNEY A., WILLIAMS, LESLIE J.
Applicants: PICKER INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: A61B6
IPC codes: A61B6, H05G1, G01N23