System and method of spectral calibration and basis material decomposition for x-ray ct systems

A method of imaging comprising:

• computing detector coefficients based on a static low kVp measurement and a static high kVp measurement;
• measuring incident spectral curves at high and low kVp;
• computing effective X-ray incident spectral curves at high and low kVp using the captured incident spectral curves;
• scanning a water phantom and normalizing the computed detector coefficients to water;
• adjusting the computed effective X-ray incident spectral curves based on the normalized detector coefficients;
• computing basis material decomposition functions using the adjusted X-ray incident spectral curves;
• and
• generating one or more basis material density images using the computed basis material decomposition functions.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

• compute detector coefficients based on a static low energy measurement and a static high energy measurement;
• capture incident spectra at high and low energy;
• compute effective X-ray incident spectra at high and low energy using the captured incident spectra;
• scan a water phantom and normalize the computed detector coefficients to water;
• adjust the computed effective X-ray incident spectra based on the normalized detector coefficients;
• compute basis material decomposition functions using the adjusted X-ray incident spectra;
• and
• generate one or more basis material density images using the computed basis material decomposition functions.