Respiratory Disease Screening with Dark-Field Computed Tomography

Project Information

RespeCT

Grant agreement ID: 695045

DOI

10.3030/695045

Project closed

EC signature date 25 July 2016

Start date 1 August 2016

End date 31 July 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 2 357 212,50

EU contribution

€ 2 357 212,50

Coordinated by

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - RespeCT (Respiratory Disease Screening with Dark-Field Computed Tomography)

Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2022-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The main objective of this proposal was to develop a recently explored and fundamentally new X-ray contrast mechanism, namely X-ray dark-field imaging, from previous in vivo studies in small animals to a first clinical dark-field computed tomography (CT) prototype for future diagnostics in humans.

Complementing this main technological development goal, we investigated the potential future clinical diagnostic application of this technology by systematically studying several small animal disease models and using an existing dark-field radiography prototype.

As one of the most potentially beneficial applications, we focused specifically on a rapidly growing healthcare challenge, namely the early detection and screening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In Europe, COPD is estimated to affect 5-10% of adults over the age of 40. This means that 12-25 million people in the European Union are affected by COPD.

The results of this project demonstrate that dark-field CT imaging is technically feasible on a human scale and that dark-field contrast can in principle improve early diagnosis, which would ultimately lead to a significant extension of the lives of millions of Europeans.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

To achieve the project goals, this proposal includes two research strands: (A) a systematic preclinical biomedical research program to determine the greatest diagnostic utility of this new technology using various small animal models (including emphysema, fibrosis, and asthma), and (B) the technical development of this innovative new in vivo medical imaging technology for a next-generation human dark-field CT scanner.

In detail, the following important scientific achievements were achieved and published in this project:
- First technical realisation and demonstration of a dark-field computed tomography on the human scale (Viermetz et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022);
- Development of the detailed technical design for of a human-scale Talbot-Lau interferometer for dark-field CT (Viermetz et al., IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2022);
- Initial Characterization of Dark-field CT on a clinical gantry (Viermetz et al., IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2022);
- Development of an algorithm for modelling vibrations of a tiled Talbot-Lau interferometer on a clinical CT (Schmid et al., IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2022);
- Fabrication of X‐ray absorption gratings by centrifugal deposition of bimodal tungsten particles in high aspect ratio silicon templates (Pinzek et al., Scientific Reports, 2022);
- Evaluation of qualitative and quantitative Assessment of Emphysema Using Dark-Field Chest Radiography (Urban et al., Radiology, 2022);
- X-ray Dark-Field Chest Imaging: Qualitative and Quantitative Results in Healthy Humans (Gassert et al., Radiology, 2022);
- Performance of a first principal study using phase‐contrast imaging for the detection of large airway pathologies after lung transplantation (Umkehrer et al., Scientific Reports, 2021);
- Development of a method for quality and parameter control of X-ray absorption gratings by angular X-ray transmission (Gustschin et al., Optics Express, 2019);
- Development of a theoretical framework for comparing noise characteristics of spectral, differential phase-contrast and spectral differential phase-contrast x-ray imaging (Mechlem et al., Physics in Medicine & Biology, 2020);
-Algorithmic development of a method for spectral differential phase-contrast X-ray radiography (Mechlem et al., IEEE TMI, 2018);
- Investigation of a grating-based phase-contrast and dark-field computed tomography with a single-shot approach (Teuffenbach et al., Scientific Reports, 2017).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

All points listed above represent progress beyond the state-of-the-art.

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