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Computed Tomography. CT, CAT tomos = slice, graphein = to write. Magdalena Bazalova. 1. What is a CT scanner?. an X-ray device capable of cross-sectional imaging creates images of slices through the patient. What is a CT scanner?. doughnut shaped gantry with moving patient table. Why CT?.
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Computed Tomography CT, CAT tomos = slice, graphein = to write Magdalena Bazalova
1. What is a CT scanner? • an X-ray device capable of cross-sectional imaging • creates images of slices through the patient
What is a CT scanner? • doughnut shaped gantry with moving patient table
Why CT? • conventional radiography suffers from collapsing of 3D structures onto a 2D image • although the resolution of CT is lower, it has extremely good low contrast resolution enabling the detection of very small changes in tissue type • CT gives accurate diagnostic information about the distribution of structures inside the body
CT scanning applications • very wide ranging – good for imaging bone and soft tissue • diagnostic imaging • radiotherapy planning • 3D applications
Why CT for radiotherapy? • Radiation therapy planning is done on the basis of patient CT images and is therefore patient specific • the target and organs at risk are delineated in CT images (possibly with help of other imaging modalities – PET) • dose calculation algorithms use CT images for determination of dose delivered to the patient during treatment
Why CT for radiotherapy? • Tissue inhomogeneities can be taken into account in most treatment planning systems • Dose to soft tissue is different than dose to cortical bone - mass density variations between tissue types are the most important factor • Therefore, mass densities of tissues have to be known for an accurate dose calculation • CT images do not represent mass densities of patient body directly but they can be converted into mass densities using a calibration curve
2. CT scanner components X-ray tube X-ray beam detector ring
Questions on CT apparatus • How do we call the device that produces X-ray beam? • (X-ray tube ) • What have the X-rays pass through on their way to the detector ring? • (beryllium window, Al filters, bow-tie filter, patient, anti-scatter grid)
What are we measuring in CT? • the linear attenuation coefficient, µ, between the X-ray tube and the detector • the linear attenuation coefficient is a measure of how rapidly are X-ray attenuated
p 2D-projection data set - sinogram • projections • I, I0 - intensities -d x-ray source -d d d Projection angle
Reconstruction algorithms • Computer based • simple back-projection • filtered back-projection • iterative techniques
Simple back-projection • reverse the process of measurement of projection data to reconstruct an image • each projection is uniformly distributed across the reconstructed image
Simple back-projection 1/r blurring
Filtered back-projection • simple back-projection produces blurred images • projection data need to be filtered before reconstruction • different filters can be applied for different diagnostic purposes • smoother filters for viewing soft tissue • sharp filters for high resolution images • back-projection is the same as before
Filtered back-projection Image reconstruction Simple back-projection FBP
CT number scale HU represents the linear attenuation of a material.
CT for radiotherapy – calibration, HU to mass density conversion • HU do not represent mass density, needed for dose calculation, directly. To obtain mass densities of each voxel: • A set of tissue equivalent materials with known mass densities is scanned and a calibration curve is created
Questions on reconstruction • How do we call picture and volume elements? • (pixels and voxels) • What do CT images represent? • (linear attenuation coefficients of voxels) • How do we call raw detector data? • (a sinogram) • Name two reconstruction techniques? • (simple and filtered back-projection)
Questions on CT technology • How many CT generations exist? • 5 (maybe more) • Which one is the third one? • rotate/rotate • What are the advantages of helical scanning? • arbitrary image position, faster scanning