Novel High Resolution Scintillator for Imaging Bone Microarchitecture in Flat Panel Cone Beam CT

AbstractPathological changes in bone microarchitecture are associated with a broad range of musculoskeletalMSKdiseasesincluding osteoporosisOPand osteoarthritisOAOP and OA carry significant healthcare burdenwith an estimatedmillion US adults suffering from OP andmillion afflicted by OAThis motivates quantitative assessment of bone microstructure on clinical imaging systemsQuantitative metrics of bone microarchitecture remainhoweverunderutilized in OP and OA because of limited spatial resolution of current orthopedic imaging modalitiesApplication of extremity CBCT in quantitative imaging of bone microstructure is likely to have high impact in OA and OP becauseaOA occurs primarily in the extremitiesandbin OPmorphological measurements in distal extremities were shown to be indicative of fracture riskincluding of hip fracturesAgainthe spatial resolution of current extremity CBCTmmis insufficient to fully resolve themm trabeculaelimiting the performance in assessment of bone qualityWe intend to address this specific issue through the development of a novel sensor that promises to provide the necessary resolution without compromising detector sensitivityEfficacy of such a detector will be demonstrated through CBCT scanning and comparing results to those obtained using the current state of the art system Project NarrativeThe imaging platform resulting from integration of the proposed sensor into large area CMOS readout will provide the unique ability to monitor bone microarchitecture in humans in vivo with sufficient detection efficiency to support imaging in highly attenuating body sitesincluding major joints of the extremitieship and spineFuture applications of this technology will extend beyond extremity CBCT toD andD fluoro visualization of stentsbreast CBCT for better visualization of micro calcificationsdentalmaxillofacial and ENT including temporal bone and inner middle ear imagingto name a few