Validation of MTF measurement for CBCT system using Monte Carlo simulations

To evaluate the spatial resolution performance of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) system, accurate measurement of the modulation transfer function (MTF) is required. This accuracy depends on the MTF measurement method and CBCT reconstruction algorithms. In this work, the accuracy of MTF measurement of CBCT system using wire phantom is validated by Monte Carlo simulation. A Monte Carlo simulation software tool BEAMnrc/EGSnrc was employed to model X-ray radiation beams and transport. Tungsten wires were simulated with different diameters and radial distances from the axis of rotation. We adopted filtered back projection technique to reconstruct images from 360° acquisition. The MTFs for four reconstruction kernels were measured from corresponding reconstructed wire images, while the ram-lak kernel increased the MTF relative to the cosine, hamming and hann kernel. The results demonstrated that the MTF degraded radially from the axis of rotation. This study suggested that an increase in the MTF for the CBCT system is possible by optimizing scanning settings and reconstruction parameters.