Method and apparatus for reconstructing volumetric images in a helical scanning computed tomography system with multiple rows of detectors

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein each of the rows lies on the perimeter of a circle centered at the source and in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 wherein the projection paths from each row of detectors comprise a transaxial fan, while the projection paths from each column of detectors comprise an axial fan.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 wherein the reordered projections are reordered from projection data collected during a scan of the object comprising a half-scan in which the source and the detectors rotate over 180° plus the angular span of the transaxial fan such that the reordered projections have a view angle φ ranging from 0 to π for reconstructing a section of the volumetric image along the rotation axis.

Claim 6

The method of claim 3 wherein the reordered projections are reordered from projection data collected during a scan of the object comprising a full-scan in which the source and the detectors rotate over 360° plus the angular span of the transaxial fan such that the reordered projections have a view angle φ ranging from 0 to 2π for reconstructing a section of the volumetric image data along the rotation axis.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of interpolating comprises determining a midpoint of each projection path between the source and corresponding detector element to represent the spatial position of the projection path with respect to the rotation axis.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 wherein the midpoints of projections of the same detector column lie along a line parallel to the rotation axis and wherein midpoints of projections of the same detector row lie on a circular arc centered at the source and intersecting the rotation axis.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6 wherein the midpoints of projections of the same detector column lie along a line parallel to the rotation axis and wherein midpoints of projections of the same detector row lie on a curve slightly deviated from a circular arc centered at the source and intersecting the rotation axis.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 wherein the interpolated projections are interpolated from adjacent rows such that the interpolated projections have a substantially-constant spatial position along the rotation axis.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 further comprising spatially-interpolating the projections of each row to provide equally-spaced projections having equal spatial intervals between adjacent columns.

Claim 12

The method of claim 1 further comprising filtering the interpolated projections with a convolution kernel.

Claim 13

The method of claim 1 further comprising calculating upper and lower separation lines for separating overlapping projections between view angles φ and φ+π and for defining the reordered projection of an axial fan therebetween for backprojection.

Claim 14

The method of claim 12 wherein the separation line is calculated as the line defined between respective positions of the source of the reordered projections at view angles φ and φ+π.

Claim 15

The method of claim 12 further comprising backprojecting those projections which lie within the separation lines of each axial fan, and discarding those projections beyond the separation lines.

Claim 16

The method of claim 1 wherein backprojecting comprises accumulating voxel data values from all projections passing through each voxel.

Claim 17

The method of claim 1 wherein backprojecting comprises backprojecting along the plane normal to the rotation axis as the most iterative computations, followed by backprojection along the rotation axis as the less iterative computations.

Claim 18

The method of claim 1 wherein interpolating comprises increasing the precision of interpolation by interpolating a larger number of projections at narrower spatial intervals to enhance image resolution.

Claim 19

The method of claim 1 wherein interpolating comprises using high-order spatial interpolation to increase the precision of interpolation.

Claim 20

The method of claim 1 further comprising applying a view-angle dependent offset function to the position of the reordered projections along the rotation axis.

Claim 21

The method of claim 19 wherein the offset function is a periodic triangular function.

Claim 22

The method of claim 1 wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equivalent to an incremental view angle Δφ, where Δφ is the angle between sets of reordered parallel projections.

Claim 23

The method of claim 21 wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equal to the angular spacing δ between columns, Δθ=δ; whereby the reordered projections are obtained by sorting the projection data without interpolation.

Claim 24

The method of claim 21 wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is not equal to the angular spacing δ between columns, Δθ≠δ; whereby the reordered projections are generated by interpolation of the projection data.

Claim 25

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of slices of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns and in rows, each row arranged along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and at least said source rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as relative movement occurs substantially along the rotation axis between said object and said source detector array; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections of adjacent rows to generate multiple rows of interpolated projections, each row of interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting a plurality of slices, each from multiple rows of the interpolated projections so as to generate a volumetric image of said object therefrom.

Claim 26

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of slices of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns and in rows, each row arranged along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and at least said source rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as relative movement occurs substantially along the rotation axis between said object and said source detector array; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections of adjacent rows to generate multiple rows of interpolated projections, each row of interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting a plurality of slices, each from multiple rows of the interpolated projections so as to generate a volumetric image of said object therefrom.

Claim 27

The computed tomography system of claim 24 wherein each of the rows lies on the perimeter of a circle centered at the source and in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis.

Claim 28

The computed tomography system of claim 24 wherein the projection paths from each row of detectors comprise a transaxial fan, while the projection paths from each column of detectors comprise an axial fan.

Claim 29

The computed tomography system of claim 26 wherein the reordered projections are reordered from projection data collected during a scan of the object comprising a half-scan in which the source and the detectors rotate over 180° plus the angular span of the transaxial fan such that the reordered projections have a view angle φ ranging from 0 to π for reconstructing a section of the volumetric image along the rotation axis.

Claim 30

The computed tomography system of claim 26 wherein the reordered projections are reordered from projection data collected during a scan of the object comprising a full-scan in which the source and the detectors rotate over 360° plus the angular span of the transaxial fan such that the reordered projections have a view angle φ ranging from 0 to 2π for reconstructing a section of the volumetric image data along the rotation axis.

Claim 31

The computed tomography system of claim 26 wherein the means for interpolating comprises determining a midpoint of each projection path between the source and corresponding detector element to represent the spatial position of the projection path with respect to the rotation axis.

Claim 32

The computed tomography system of claim 29 wherein the midpoints of projections of the same detector column lie along a line parallel to the rotation axis and wherein midpoints of projections of the same detector row lie on a circular arc centered at the source and intersecting the rotation axis.

Claim 33

The computed tomography system of claim 29 wherein the midpoints of projections of the same detector column lie along a line parallel to the rotation axis and wherein midpoints of projections of the same detector row lie on a curve slightly deviated from a circular arc centered at the source and intersecting the rotation axis.

Claim 34

The computed tomography system of claim 29 herein the interpolated projections are interpolated from adjacent rows such that the interpolated projections have a substantially-constant spatial position along the rotation axis.

Claim 35

The computed tomography system of claim 24 further comprising a spatial interpolator for spatially-interpolating the projections of each row to provide equally-spaced projections having equal spatial intervals between adjacent columns.

Claim 36

The computed tomography system of claim 24 further comprising a filter for filtering the interpolated projections with a convolution kernel.

Claim 37

The computed tomography system of claim 24 further comprising means for calculating upper and lower separation lines for separating overlapping projections between view angles φ and φ+π and for defining the reordered projection of an axial fan therebetween for backprojection.

Claim 38

The computed tomography system of claim 35 wherein the separation line is calculated as the line defined between respective positions of the source of the reordered projections at view angles φ and φ+π.

Claim 39

The computed tomography system of claim 35 further comprising backprojecting those projections which lie within the separation lines of each axial fan, and discarding those projections beyond the separation lines.

Claim 40

The computed tomography system of claim 24 wherein the means for backprojecting comprises means for accumulating voxel data values from all projections passing through each voxel.

Claim 41

The computed tomography system of claim 24 wherein the means for backprojecting backprojects along the plane normal to the rotation axis as the most iterative computations, followed by backprojection along the rotation axis as the less iterative computations.

Claim 42

The computed tomography system of claim 24 wherein the means for interpolating increases the precision of interpolation by interpolating a larger number of projections at narrower spatial intervals to enhance image resolution.

Claim 43

The computed tomography system of claim 24 wherein the means for interpolating comprises using high-order spatial interpolation to increase the precision of interpolation.

Claim 44

The computed tomography system of claim 24 further comprising means for applying a view-angle dependent offset function to the position of the reordered projections along the rotation axis.

Claim 45

The computed tomography system of claim 42 wherein the offset function is a periodic triangular function.

Claim 46

The computed tomography system of claim 24 wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equivalent to an incremental view angle Δφ, where Δφ is the angle between sets of reordered parallel projections.

Claim 47

The computed tomography system of claim 44 wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equal to the angular spacing δ between columns, Δθ=δ; whereby the reordered projections are obtained by sorting the projection data without interpolation.

Claim 48

The computed tomography system of claim 44 wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is not equal to the angular spacing δ between columns, Δθ≠δ; whereby the reordered projections are generated by interpolation of the projection data.

Claim 55

The method of claim 49 wherein the separation line is calculated as the line defined between respective positions of the source of the reordered projections at view angles φ and φ+π.

Claim 56

The method of claim 49 further comprising backprojecting those projections which lie within the separation lines of each axial fan, and discarding those projections beyond the separation lines.

Claim 65

The method of claim 55 wherein the offset function is a periodic triangular function.

Claim 68

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections by determining a midpoint of each projection path between the source and corresponding detector element to represent the spatial position of the projection path with respect to the rotation axis, wherein the midpoints of projections of the same detector column lie along a line parallel to the rotation axis and wherein midpoints of projections of the same detector row lie on a curve slightly deviated from a circular arc centered at the source and intersecting the rotation axis, to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 69

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections by determining a midpoint of each projection path between the source and corresponding detector element to represent the spatial position of the projection path with respect to the rotation axis, wherein the midpoints of projections of the same detector column lie along a line parallel to the rotation axis and wherein midpoints of projections of the same detector row lie on a curve slightly deviated from a circular arc centered at the source and intersecting the rotation axis, to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 70

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections from adjacent views by determining a midpoint of each projection path between the source and corresponding detector element to represent the spatial position of the projection path with respect to the rotation axis, to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 71

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections from adjacent views by determining a midpoint of each projection path between the source and corresponding detector element to represent the spatial position of the projection path with respect to the rotation axis, to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 72

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; means for calculating upper and lower separation lines for separating overlapping projections between view angles φ and φ+π and for defining the reordered projection of an axial fan therebetween; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 73

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; means for calculating upper and lower separation lines for separating overlapping projections between view angles φ and φ+π and for defining the reordered projection of an axial fan therebetween; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 74

The computed tomography system of claim 59 wherein the separation line is calculated as the line defined between respective positions of the source of the reordered projections at view angles φ and φ+π.

Claim 75

The computed tomography system of claim 59 further comprising backprojecting those projection which lie within the separation lines of each axial fan, and discarding those projections beyond the separation lines.

Claim 76

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object, wherein the means for backprojecting backprojects along the plane normal to the rotation axis as the most iterative computations, followed by backprojection along the rotation axis as the less iterative computations.

Claim 77

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object, wherein the means for backprojecting backprojects along the plane normal to the rotation axis as the most iterative computations, followed by backprojection along the rotation axis as the less iterative computations.

Claim 78

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object, wherein the means for interpolating increases the precision of interpolation by interpolating a larger number of projections at narrower spatial intervals to enhance image resolution.

Claim 79

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object, wherein the means for interpolating increases the precision of interpolation by interpolating a larger number of projections at narrower spatial intervals to enhance image resolution.

Claim 80

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object, wherein the means for interpolating comprises using high-order spatial interpolation to increase the precision of interpolation.

Claim 81

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object, wherein the means for interpolating comprises using high-order spatial interpolation to increase the precision of interpolation.

Claim 82

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for applying a view-angle dependent offset function to the position of the reordered projections along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 83

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis; means for applying a view-angle dependent offset function to the position of the reordered projections along the rotation axis; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 84

The computed tomography system of claim 66 wherein the offset function is a periodic triangular function.

Claim 85

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, each set of reordered projections having a view angle φ, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis, wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equivalent to an incremental view angle Δφ, where Δφ is the angle between sets of reordered parallel projections, and wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equal to the angular spacing δ between columns, Δθ=δ; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.

Claim 86

A computed tomography system for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object including an energy source for projecting conical beams through the object toward a detector array of elements arranged in columns along a rotation axis and in rows along a tangential direction centered about the source; said source and said detector array being in a predetermined spatial relationship and rotating about a rotation axis for interrogating the object at successive rotation angles as said object is translated substantially along the rotation axis; said system comprising: means for sensing at each rotation angle, the beam intensity at each element of the detector array as projection data for the projection paths defined between each element and the source; means for reordering the projection data of successive rotation angles into reordered projections, each set of reordered projections having a view angle φ, said reordered projections being parallel with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis and having different spatial positions along the rotation axis, wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equivalent to an incremental view angle Δφ, where Δφ is the angle between sets of reordered parallel projections, and wherein the incremental rotation angle Δθ is substantially equal to the angular spacing δ between columns, Δθ=δ; means for interpolating the reordered projections to generate interpolated projections having a substantially common spatial position along the rotation axis; and means for backprojecting the interpolated projections to provide a volumetric image of said object.