Exact treatment of the dual-energy method in CT using polyenergetic X-ray spectra

The theoretical background of the dual-energy method in CT is discussed in detail, especially the meaning of a measured linear attenuation coefficient of a polyenergetic X-ray spectrum in the presence of beam hardening. Using exact values for the incident spectra the iteration procedure shown here allows one to obtain the true values of the effective atomic number and electron density of an absorber material. The applicability of the method in CT is illustrated by computer simulation of the image reconstruction for a homogeneous and an inhomogeneous phantom.