Multi-material example: Lungman phantom
Written by: Franck Vidal
Published on: 
Summary
In this notebook you will use the knowledge learned in first_xray_simulation.ipynb to set some of the simulation parameters. We aim to replicate a digital radiograph (DR) of the Lungman anthropomorphic chest phantom (Kyoto Kagaku, Tokyo, Japan) taken with a clinical X-ray machine by GE Healthcare (Chicago, Illinois, USA) at one of our local hospitals (Glan Clwyd). Parameters relevant to the simulation are extracted from the DICOM file, such as source-patient-distance and source-detector-distance.
Additionaly, we will demonstrate how to use more than one material. We scanned the Lungman anthropomorphic chest phantom at the same hospital (Ysbyty Gwynedd) using a 128-slice Somatom Definition Edge scanner by Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany). The CT volume was then segmented into individual structures. Surface meshes were eventually extracted from the segmented CT scan. The corresponding data is available on Zenodo (the notebook will download and extract the files automatically). The material property of each anatomical structure is defined as the average Hounsfield unit of that structure. Hounsfield values are then converted into material compositions (mixtures) and densities using Schneider et al.’s method. This functionality is already built in gVXR.
Aims of this session
- Practice, amongst other things, how to set simulation parameters related to the X-ray source and detector;
- Demonstrate how to load several STL files and use them all in the simulation (multi-material).