Comparing Material Decomposition Methods using Dual Energy Subtraction and Spectral Computed Tomography*

Material decomposition using spectral computed tomography (CT) and dual energy subtraction methods can both be utilized in medical imaging to better discern a sample containing multiple different materials. These two methods are able to give an estimate of material attenuation of an object over specified energy ranges, while conventional CT and x-ray imaging only give an estimate of x-ray attenuation of an object over all x-ray energies. The additional information can be utilized in post-processing operations like material decomposition, which can reveal more information about the object than conventional methods. Spectral CT and dual energy subtraction are both methods used which provide enhanced interpretation of an attenuation image of an object, but both have differing data collection methods and resultant images. Both methods will acquire data on a sample containing three different materials using a Medipix3RX Silicon photon counting detector which was developed at CERN. With these two results we can compare how well each method is able to discern multiple different materials within the same object.