Seminar: The Physics and Clinical Application of Dual Energy Computed Tomography

Dual Energy CT is the latest evolution of computed tomography in clinical practice. While the fundamental technique has been demonstrated since the emergence of computed tomography, recent hardware and computational capabilities are now providing the opportunity to fully integrate Dual Energy CT into clinical practice. This presentation reviews the basic physical concepts of Dual Energy CT and illustrates how the energy dependent attenuation of various materials can be utilized to provide previously unavailable insights into medical imaging and treatment applications. The different strategies employed by various manufacturers to obtain the spectral data integral to this imaging modality are also reviewed, along with a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, clinical applications will be discussed which demonstrate improved diagnosis through material quantification and extend to providing tissue characterizations fundamental to the development and implementation of radiation cancer therapy, particularly proton therapy.

About the Speaker

Dr. David Hintenlang is currently the Chief of Medical Physics and Professor of Radiology at the OSU Wexner Medical Center.  He moved to OSU in the Fall of 2016 from the University of Florida. At the University of Florida, he was a faculty member in the both the Departments of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, and served as the Graduate Program Director of Medical Physics and Interim Chairman of the Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering. He received his PhD in Physics from Brown University, is Certified in Diagnostic Medical Physics by the American Board of Radiology, and is a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the American College of Medical Physics.

Hosted by Professors Vaibhav Sinha and Raymond Cao