Abstract Photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) has recently gained attention as a next-generation CT because of its capacity to incorporate the energy information of individual X-ray photons. Additionally, PCCT offers the potential for reducing radiation doses by minimizing dark current noise. However, it has not been clearly investigated whether PCCT can acquire “accurate” energy information as expected in each energy band. In this study, the accuracy of PCCT energy information and CT values obtained using a scintillation-based PCCT system was evaluated. The experimental results revealed significant deviations in the CT values within low-energy bands, attributed to contamination from escape and scattering events, wherein only partial energy was deposited in the detector. To address this issue, a new correction method was developed and applied, which significantly improved the accuracy of the CT values. This advancement in acquiring precise CT values with PCCT has the potential to enhance its clinical application, enabling its broader adoption in medical imaging.
Minagawa et al. (Fri,) studied this question.