Enabling Low-Dose In Vivo Benchtop X-ray Fluorescence Computed Tomography through Deep-Learning-Based Denoising

X-ray Fluorescence Computed Tomography (XFCT) is an emerging non-invasive imaging technique providing high-resolution molecular-level data. However, increased sensitivity with current benchtop X-ray sources comes at the cost of high radiation exposure. Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly deep learning (DL), has revolutionized medical imaging by delivering high-quality images in the presence of noise. In XFCT, traditional methods rely on complex algorithms for background noise reduction, but AI holds promise in addressing high-dose concerns. We present an optimized Swin-Conv-UNet (SCUNet) model for background noise reduction in X-ray fluorescence (XRF) images at low tracer concentrations. Our method's effectiveness is evaluated against higher-dose images, while various denoising techniques exist for X-ray and computed tomography (CT) techniques, only a few address XFCT. The DL model is trained and assessed using augmented data, focusing on background noise reduction. Image quality is measured using peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index (SSIM), comparing outcomes with 100% X-ray-dose images. Results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm yields high-quality images from low-dose inputs, with maximum PSNR of 39.05 and SSIM of 0.86. The model outperforms block-matching and 3D filtering (BM3D), block-matching and 4D filtering (BM4D), non-local means (NLM), denoising convolutional neural network (DnCNN), and SCUNet in both visual inspection and quantitative analysis, particularly in high-noise scenarios. This indicates the potential of AI, specifically the SCUNet model, in significantly improving XFCT imaging by mitigating the trade-off between sensitivity and radiation exposure.