Beam Hardening Correction in Clinical X-ray Dark-Field Chest Radiography using Deep Learning-Based Bone Segmentation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kaster, Lennard, Lochschmidt, Maximilian E., Bauer, Anne M., Dorosti, Tina, Demianova, Sofia, Koehler, Thomas, Pfeiffer, Daniela, Pfeiffer, Franz
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kaster, Lennard
Lochschmidt, Maximilian E.
Bauer, Anne M.
Dorosti, Tina
Demianova, Sofia
Koehler, Thomas
Pfeiffer, Daniela
Pfeiffer, Franz
author_facet Kaster, Lennard
Lochschmidt, Maximilian E.
Bauer, Anne M.
Dorosti, Tina
Demianova, Sofia
Koehler, Thomas
Pfeiffer, Daniela
Pfeiffer, Franz
contents Dark-field radiography is a novel X-ray imaging modality that enables complementary diagnostic information by visualizing the microstructural properties of lung tissue. Implemented via a Talbot-Lau interferometer integrated into a conventional X-ray system, it allows simultaneous acquisition of perfectly temporally and spatially registered attenuation-based conventional and dark-field radiographs. Recent clinical studies have demonstrated that dark-field radiography outperforms conventional radiography in diagnosing and staging pulmonary diseases. However, the polychromatic nature of medical X-ray sources leads to beam-hardening, which introduces structured artifacts in the dark-field radiographs, particularly from osseous structures. This so-called beam-hardening-induced dark-field signal is an artificial dark-field signal and causes undesired cross-talk between attenuation and dark-field channels. This work presents a segmentation-based beam-hardening correction method using deep learning to segment ribs and clavicles. Attenuation contribution masks derived from dual-layer detector computed tomography data, decomposed into aluminum and water, were used to refine the material distribution estimation. The method was evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively on clinical data from healthy subjects and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and COVID-19. The proposed approach reduces bone-induced artifacts and improves the homogeneity of the lung dark-field signal, supporting more reliable visual and quantitative assessment in clinical dark-field chest radiography.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_10625
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Beam Hardening Correction in Clinical X-ray Dark-Field Chest Radiography using Deep Learning-Based Bone Segmentation
Kaster, Lennard
Lochschmidt, Maximilian E.
Bauer, Anne M.
Dorosti, Tina
Demianova, Sofia
Koehler, Thomas
Pfeiffer, Daniela
Pfeiffer, Franz
Medical Physics
Dark-field radiography is a novel X-ray imaging modality that enables complementary diagnostic information by visualizing the microstructural properties of lung tissue. Implemented via a Talbot-Lau interferometer integrated into a conventional X-ray system, it allows simultaneous acquisition of perfectly temporally and spatially registered attenuation-based conventional and dark-field radiographs. Recent clinical studies have demonstrated that dark-field radiography outperforms conventional radiography in diagnosing and staging pulmonary diseases. However, the polychromatic nature of medical X-ray sources leads to beam-hardening, which introduces structured artifacts in the dark-field radiographs, particularly from osseous structures. This so-called beam-hardening-induced dark-field signal is an artificial dark-field signal and causes undesired cross-talk between attenuation and dark-field channels. This work presents a segmentation-based beam-hardening correction method using deep learning to segment ribs and clavicles. Attenuation contribution masks derived from dual-layer detector computed tomography data, decomposed into aluminum and water, were used to refine the material distribution estimation. The method was evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively on clinical data from healthy subjects and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and COVID-19. The proposed approach reduces bone-induced artifacts and improves the homogeneity of the lung dark-field signal, supporting more reliable visual and quantitative assessment in clinical dark-field chest radiography.
title Beam Hardening Correction in Clinical X-ray Dark-Field Chest Radiography using Deep Learning-Based Bone Segmentation
topic Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.10625