Basic principles and clinical potential of photon-counting detector CT

Photon-counting detectors are a new technology for future computed tomography (CT) systems, with the potential to overcome major limitations of conventional CT detectors. They provide energy-resolved CT data at very high spatial resolution without electronic noise. This review article gives an overview of the basic principles of photon-counting detector CT, of potential benefits and limitations, and of the clinical experience gained so far in pre-clinical installations.