X-ray cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is of importance in image-guided intervention (IGI) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). In this paper, we present a cone-beam CT data acquisition system using a GE INNOVA 4100 (GE Healthcare Technologies, Waukesha, Wisconsin) clinical system. This new cone-beam data acquisition mode was developed for research purposes without interfering with any clinical function of the system. It provides us a basic imaging pipeline for more advanced cone-beam data acquisition methods. It also provides us a platform to study and overcome the limiting factors such as cone-beam artifacts and limiting low contrast resolution in current C-arm based cone-beam CT systems. A geometrical calibration method was developed to experimentally determine parameters of the scanning geometry to correct the image reconstruction for geometric non-idealities. Extensive phantom studies and some small animal studies have been conducted to evaluate the performance of our cone-beam CT data acquisition system.

Date Published: 2 March 2006
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 6142, Medical Imaging 2006: Physics of Medical Imaging, 614210 (2 March 2006); doi: 10.1117/12.653197

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6142:
Medical Imaging 2006: Physics of Medical Imaging
Michael J. Flynn; Jiang Hsieh, Editor(s)