Imaging performance evaluation of full and binning acquisition modes in a prototype CBCT system equipped with the TFT X-ray detector

The projection number, acquisition time, radiation dose, and full and 2×2 binning modes of the thin film transistor (TFT) X-ray imaging detector were evaluated for image quality in a prototype cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) built for medical applications. The detector is an amorphous silicon (a-Si) based TFT X-ray detector (PaxScan 4030CB, Varian, Inc.). The a-Si based TFT X-ray detector has a 397×298 mm2 active area with 194 μm pixel pitch and 2048×1536 pixel, of which, 388 μm pixel pitch and 1024×768 pixel were used for the 2×2 binning mode. The Feldkamp, Davis, and Kress (FDK) reconstruction algorithm was used to generate 3D images, and the comparisons were made between different modes of acquisition. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) computed tomography (CT) performance phantom (model 610, CIRS) and the chest phantom (model 76-683, Nuclear Associates) were used to evaluate the image quality.