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Advanced X-ray Imaging Technology

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Molecular Imaging in Oncology

Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 216))

Abstract

Since their discovery by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895, X-rays have become the most widely available, typically fastest, and usually most cost-effective medical imaging modality today. From the early radiographic approaches using X-ray films as detectors, the portfolio of medical X-ray imaging devices developed into a large range of dedicated instrumentation for various applications. While X-ray imaging has come a long way, there are some physical properties of X-rays, which have not yet been fully exploited, and which may offer quite some room for further enhancements of current X-ray imaging equipment. Firstly, X-ray imaging today is mainly black and white, despite the fact that X-ray generators actually create a full spectrum of X-ray energies, and that the interactions of X-rays that occur within the human body are not the same for all energies and every material. Exploiting these spectral dependencies allows to not only obtain a black and white CT image, but also to obtain more molecularly specific information, which is relevant particularly in oncological precision radiology. The second aspect of X-rays, and so far in radiology mainly neglected and unused, is the physical fact that X-rays can also be interpreted in the wave picture, and not only as presently been done in the particle picture. If interpreted as waves, X-rays—just like visible light—experience a phase shift in matter, and this—if exploited correctly—can produce a new class of X-ray images, which then depict the wave interactions of X-rays with matter, rather than only the attenuating properties, as done until now.

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Abbreviations

CT:

Computed Tomography

DECT:

Dual-Energy CT

DFC:

Dark-field Contrast

DLCT:

Dual-Layer CT

DPC:

Differential Phase-Contrast

DSCT:

Dual-Source CT

IMD:

Iodine Material Density

KVSCT:

Rapid kVp Switching CT

MRI:

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

SPCCT:

Spectral Photon-Counting CT

VME:

Virtual Mono-Energetic

VNC:

Virtual Non-Contrast

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675, München, Germany

    Daniela Pfeiffer, Franz Pfeiffer & Ernst Rummeny

  2. Department of Physics, Munich School of BioEngineering, Technical University of Munich, 85748, Garching, Germany

    Franz Pfeiffer

Authors
  1. Daniela Pfeiffer
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  2. Franz Pfeiffer
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  3. Ernst Rummeny
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Franz Pfeiffer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Otmar Schober

  2. Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Fabian Kiessling

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Ruprecht Karl University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Jürgen Debus

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Pfeiffer, D., Pfeiffer, F., Rummeny, E. (2020). Advanced X-ray Imaging Technology. In: Schober, O., Kiessling, F., Debus, J. (eds) Molecular Imaging in Oncology. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 216. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42618-7_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42618-7_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42617-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42618-7

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