Using energy-resolved X-ray computed tomography with a current mode detector to distinguish materials

In conventional X-ray computed tomography (CT), X-rays are measured as electric current. Materials inside a subject are described by the linear attenuation coefficients averaged by the energy spectrum of the X-rays. A CT image cannot distinguish materials such as iodine and calcium, because the linear attenuation coefficient is not inherent to a material, but the product of X-ray mass attenuation coefficient and the density of the material. Materials such as iodine and calcium can be distinguished using an energy-resolved CT technique, with a current-mode detector system, using segment detectors aligned in the direction of X-ray incidence: the energy-resolved CT images are reconstructed by the X-rays with the energy of interest, by unfolding electric currents measured by the segment detectors.