The frequency split method for helical cone-beam reconstruction.

A new approximate method for the utilization of redundant data in helical cone-beam CT is presented. It is based on the observation that the original WEDGE method provides excellent image quality if only little more than 180 degrees data are used for back-projection, and that significant low-frequency artifacts appear if a larger amount of redundant data are used. This degradation is compensated by the frequency split method: The low-frequency part of the image is reconstructed using little more than 180 degrees of data, while the high frequency part is reconstructed using all data. The resulting algorithm shows no cone-beam artifacts in a simulation of a 64-row scanner. It is further shown that the frequency split method hardly degrades the signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed images and that it behaves robustly in the presence of motion.

Automatic phase determination for retrospectively gated cardiac CT.

The recent improvements in CT detector and gantry technology in combination with new heart rate adaptive cone beam reconstruction algorithms enable the visualization of the heart in three dimensions at high spatial resolution. However, the finite temporal resolution still impedes the artifact-free reconstruction of the heart at any arbitrary phase of the cardiac cycle. Cardiac phases must be found during which the heart is quasistationary to obtain outmost image quality. It is challenging to find these phases due to intercycle and patient-to-patient variability. Electrocardiogram (ECG) information does not always represent the heart motion with an adequate accuracy. In this publication, a simple and efficient image-based technique is introduced which is able to deliver stable cardiac phases in an automatic and patient-specific way. From low-resolution four-dimensional data sets, the most stable phases are derived by calculating the object similarity between subsequent phases in the cardiac cycle. Patient-specific information about the object motion can be determined and resolved spatially. This information is used to perform optimized high-resolution reconstructions at phases of little motion. Results based on a simulation study and three real patient data sets are presented. The projection data were generated using a 16-slice cone beam CT system in low-pitch helical mode with parallel ECG recording.

Nanotube composites: novel SiO2 coated carbon nanotubes.

A novel route to nanocomposites consisting of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) embedded in amorphous SiOx is reported; the material has been characterised by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS); for the first time, and based on our observations, we propose theoretical models accounting for stable SiOx/tube interfaces using density functional based tight binding (DFTB).

Artifact analysis of approximate helical cone-beam CT reconstruction algorithms.

In this paper, four approximate cone-beam CT reconstruction algorithms are compared: Advanced single slice rebinning (ASSR) as a representative of algorithms employing a two dimensional approximation, PI, PI-SLANT, and 3-PI which all use a proper three dimensional back-projection. A detailed analysis of the image artifacts produced by these techniques shows that aliasing in the z-direction is the predominant source of artifacts for a 16-row scanner with 1.25 mm nominal slice thickness. For a detector with isotropic resolution of 0.5 mm, we found that ASSR and PI produce different kinds of artifacts which are almost at the same level, while PI-SLANT produces none of these artifacts. It is shown that the use of redundant data in the 3-PI method suppresses aliasing artifacts efficiently for both scanners.