ABSTRACT
This chapter details the use of energy-resolving photon detectors as the key technology for achieving spectral molecular computed tomography (CT). Since spectral molecular CT is dependent on energy-resolving photon-counting detectors, the accuracy of the energy measurements is important for both sensitive and specific imaging. The Medipix All Resolution System (MARS) research group has developed a small-animal CT scanner for researching and developing spectral molecular CT. The scanners use the Medipix family of chips as the key piece of technology to allow spectral molecular CT. Due to limitations in the manufacturing process of the Medipix ASIC, each pixel responds to a uniform energy source at a different threshold. This difference in threshold is known as the threshold dispersion of the chip. The process of selecting the correct adjustment values per pixel and the resulting configuration are known as the threshold equalization process and the equalization configuration, respectively.
