Tomography

Tomography
Presented By:
Mohammad Umar Rehman
Electrical Engineering Department
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Outline
• Introduction
• Historical Review
• The Basic Problem of Tomography
• CT Setup
• CT Projections
P j i
• Tomographic Images
• I
Image Re-construction:
R t ti The
Th Radon
R d Transform
T f
• Projection Slice Theorem
• CT Generations
G ti
• Pros & Cons
• Conclusion & Future Prospects
EE-655/Tomography/Umar 2
Introduction
• Tomography is derived from the Greek word “Tomos”
meaning a slice or a cutting
• Tomography
T h refers
f to t the
th cross-sectional
ti l imaging
i i off an object
bj t
from either transmission or reflection data collected by
illuminating the object from many different directions.
• Part of a larger field called Modern Medical Imaging.
• Popularly known as Computed (Axial) Tomography
(CT/CAT) & uses X-rays
X as radiation
di i source
• Mathematical foundations by Johann Radon, Austria, 1917
• Rediscovered by Allan Cormack,1963,
Cormack 1963 USA
• First Scanning Machine by an Engineer, Godfrey Hounsfield,
1971, UK. Nobel Prize in Medicine 1979 to Cormack &
Hounsfield
Historical Review
Imaging Modality Year Inventor Wavelength Physical principle
Energy
X-Ray 1895 Röntgen Measures variable tissue
(Nobel 1901) 3-100 keV absorption of X-Rays
Single Photon Radioactive decay.

Emission Comp. 1963 Kuhl, Edwards 150 keV Measures variable
Tomography concentration of radioactive
(SPECT) agent.
SPECT with improved SNR
Positron Emission 1953 Brownell, 150 keV due to increased number of
Tomography (PET) Sweet useful events
Computed Axial Hounsfield, Multiple axial X-Ray

Tomography 1972 Cormack Few keV views to obtain 3D volume
(CAT/CT) (Nobel 1979) (Varies) of absorption
Space and tissue dependent

Magnetic Resonance 1973 Lauterbur, GHz resonance frequency of kern
Imaging (MRI) Mansfield spin in variable magnetic
(Nobel 2003 field.
Ultrasound 1940- many MHz Measures echo of sound at

1955 tissue boundaries
The Basic Problem of Tomography
• Given a certain number of views,, or pprojections
j of an object,
j ,
under what conditions can we determine the object. OR
• Given a number of digital projections of the distribution of
some parameter t within
ithi a patient
ti t acquired
i d att regular
l angular
l
intervals over either 180 or 360 degrees, with a scanner of
some sort, how can we produce pictures of the parameter
distribution in the trans-axial plane.
• Tomography is like looking through the various windows of a
house and trying to draw the floor plan.
plan
CT Setup
CT Setup
Setup…contd
contd
X-Ray Source
Linear Translation
Parallel Beam
Detector Rotation
A Real One
Control Panels When to breathe indicator
Gantry
Bed (moves in
& out of gantry)
CT Projections
• A fine
fi X-ray
X b
beam i usedd to irradiate
is i di the h slice
li off interest.
i
• Once the measurement is made, the beam is moved over and
another measurement is collected until entire slice of interest
has been exposed.
• This set of measurements taken at the numerous beam
positions, is known as a projection
• It is desirable to collect as many samples per projection as
possible However,
possible. However in practical systems,
systems there are limitations
on sampling due to:
i. The physical size of the X-ray detectors,
ii. Desire to minimize radiation exposure to the patient, and
iii. The desire to minimize the amount of data that must be
collected and manipulated.
manipulated
Tomographic Images
• The tomographic
g p image
g is a p picture of a slab of the
patient’s anatomy
• The 2D CT image corresponds to a 3D section of the
patient
• CT slice thickness is very thin (1 to 10 mm) and is
approximately
pp y uniform
• The 2D array of pixels in the CT image corresponds to an
equal number of 3D voxels (volume elements) in the
patient
• Each pixel on the CT image displays the average X-ray
attenuation pproperties
p of the tissue in the corresponding
p g
voxel
Fig. Depiction of how a slice of an object can be viewed
as a sett off voxels
l
Image Re-construction:
Th Radon
The R d T Transform
f
• Let the slice of the image be represented by a 2D function
μ (x,
( y)) then
th its
it Radon
R d Transform
T f i given
is i b
by:
• Where, δ is the Dirac-delta function &

is the equation of the line as shown
• Thus, Radon transform maps a function from the rectangular
coordinates (x, y)into (s, θ). Also known as a sinogram.
• Values
Vl f s are obtained
for bt i d byb the
th linear
li t
translation
l ti off the
th X-ray
X
source and detector pair and values for θ are obtained by the
rotation of the gantry.
Radon Transform …contd
contd
Fig: Illustrating the Radon Transform

Image and its RT
The Radon Transform
Transform…contd
contd
• In most signal processing applications, a signal is
measured (typically a voltage or current), then some type
of transform is applied to abstract the desired useful
information.
information
• In CT, the Radon Transform of an image is measured.
• Our goal is to obtain the original function μ (x,
(x y) .
• The field of CT falls under the broad mathematical
category of inverse problems.
• Next we define the Inverse Radon Transform
The Inverse Radon Transform
∂g(s,θ )
1 π ∞
∂s
μ(x, y) = ℜ−1{g(s,θ )} = 2 ∫ ∫ dsdθ
2π 0 −∞x cosθ + y sinθ − s
• But inverse Radon Transform is valid only when g(s, θ) is
known for all possible s and θ .
• i.e. infinite projections…impossible
• In a typical medical imaging system sampled version of the
Radon Transform is measured.
• Here comes into pplayy that is known as Filtered Back
Projection (FBP)
• Widely adopted technique for image reconstruction
Projection Slice Theorem
• Based on Fourier Transform
• 1D FT of the projection of an object is same as the
2D FT of the object along the line drawn through the
centre
t off the
th 2D FT plane
l
• Thus FBP algorithm allows the image μ(x, y) to be
recovered from its sampled Radon Transform given
by:
• Pθ(ω) is the 1D FT of a projection at a fixed angle θ
Projection Slice Theorem…contd
Theorem contd
• Multiplication of projection Pθ(ω) with the ramp filter
|ω|
• Multiplication in frequency domain is equivalent to
convolution in time domain ÆFiltering
• Integration of the filtered projection w.r.t. θ ÆBack
Projection
• Implementation issue: what is the best range of values
of ω?
• Practical implementation by “windowing” |ω|
X-Ray
X Ray
Imaging
Inverse Filter
Back
Project
CT:A comparison
1971 2000
• Original axial CT image from the dedicated Axial CT image of a
Siretom CT scanner. Ability to see the soft normal brain usingg a state-
tissue structures of the brain, including the of-the-art CT system.
black ventricles for the first time.
• 80×80
80 80 pixel • 512×512 pixel
• 0.35 sec acquisition time
• 1-4 hours acquisition time
• 1 sec computation
• 1-5 days computation
CT Generations
First Generation (1972)
• Rotate/translate,, ppencil beam
• Only two X-ray detectors used (two different slices)
• Parallel ray geometry
• Translated linearly to acquire 160 rays across a 24 cm FOV
• Rotated slightly between translations to acquire 180
projections
j ti att 1-degree
1d iintervals
t l
• About 4.5 minutes/scan with 1.5 minutes to reconstruct slice
• Pencil beam geometry allowed very efficient scatter reduction,
reduction
best of all scanner generations
Second Generation (1975)
( )
• rotate/translate, narrow fan beam
• Incorporated linear array of 30 detectors
• More data acquired to improve image quality
(600 rays × 540 views)
• Shortest scan time was 18 seconds/slice
• Narrow fan beam allows more scattered radiation to be
detected
Source
Object
Detector
Third Generation (1976)
• Rotate/rotate, wide fan beam
• Number of detectors increased substantially (to more than 800
d t t )
detectors)
• Angle of fan beam increased to cover entire patient
– Eliminated need for translational motion
• Mechanically joined X-ray tube and detector array rotate
together
• Newer systems have scan times of ½ second
Fourth Generation (1977)
• Rotate/stationary
• Designed to overcome the problem of ring artifacts
• Stationary ring of about 4,800
4 800 detectors
Fifth generation (1980s)
• Stationary/stationary
• Developed specifically for cardiac tomographic
imaging
• No conventional X-ray tube; large arc of tungsten
encircles patient and lies directly opposite to the
detector ring
• Electron beam steered around the patient to strike the
annular tungsten target
• Capable of 50-msec scan times; can produce fast-
frame-rate CT movies of the beating heart
Sixth Generation (1990)
• Spiral/helical
p CT scanners acquire
q data while the
table is moving
• By avoiding the time required to translate the patient
table,
bl theh totall scan time
i required
i d to image
i the
h patient
i
can be much shorter
• Allows the use of less contrast agent and increases
patient throughput
• In so
somee instances
s ces thee eentiree sc
scan be do
donee w
within a
single breath-hold of the patient
Seventh(& last!) Generation (2000)
• Multiple detector array & cone beam
• When using multiple detector arrays, the collimator
spacing
p g is wider and more of the X-rays y that are
produced by the tube are used in producing image
data
– Opening up the collimator in a single array scanner
increases the slice thickness, reducing spatial resolution in
the slice thickness dimension
– With multiple detector array scanners, slice thickness is
determined by detector size, not by the collimator
Pros & Cons
• CT scanning is painless, noninvasive and accurate.
• A major advantage
ad antage of CT is its ability
abilit to image bone,
bone
soft tissue and blood vessels all at the same time.
• Unlike conventional X-rays,
X rays CT scanning provides
very detailed images of many types of tissue as well
ass thee lungs,
u gs, bo
bones,
es, andd bblood
ood vesse
vessels.
s.
• CT examinations are fast and simple; in emergency
cases,, theyy can reveal internal injuries
j and bleedingg
quickly enough to help save lives.
• No radiation remains in a patient's body after a CT
examination.
Pros & Cons…contd
Cons contd
• There is always a slight chance of cancer from excessive
exposure to radiation.
di i However, theh benefit
b fi off an accurate
diagnosis far outweighs the risk.
• The effective radiation dose for this procedure varies.
varies
• The risk of serious allergic reaction to contrast materials
that contain iodine is extremely rare, and radiology
departments are well-equipped to deal with them.
• Finite resolution causes some blurring of material
boundaries
• Large data volumes (GB) can require considerable
computer
t resources for
f visualization
i li ti and d analysis
l i
Conclusion & Future Prospects
• Successful, modern medical imaging is possible thanks to
high-speed digital computers and efficient, signal processing
algorithms.
• The introduction of the first CT scanner in 1972 revolutionized
medical imaging and has improved contemporary health care.
care
• The emerging localized tomography promises to provide
solutions to problems containing only a partial set of
projection data. Localized tomography will also help in cases
where only a portion of the object is of interest.
• Efforts are being made to further reduce the ionizing radiation
dose
• Development of image reconstruction algorithms is an open
area of research
References
• Many!!!
• To name a few…
few
1. Webb, S., “The Physics of Medical Imaging”, Institute of
Physics
y Publishing:
g Bristol, U.K., 1988.
2. Smith, B. J. & R. R. Adhami, “Medical Imaging:
Computerized Tomography”, IEEE Potentials Magazine,
Dec1998/Jan 1999
1999,Vol:17,
Vol:17 Issue:5.
Issue:5
3. Parra, Lucas C., Lecture notes on Biomedical Engineering,
Cityy College
g of New York.
4. www.radiologyinfo.org
The Presentation
• Could have been better if
• I had described little bit more mathematics
• Shown you some more figures
• Discussed more on CT instrumentation
• But still…
still
Thank You! for a “patient”
Listening

Tomography

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Tomography

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Tomography

Single Photon Radioactive decay.

Computed Axial Hounsfield, Multiple axial X-Ray

Space and tissue dependent

Ultrasound 1940- many MHz Measures echo of sound at

• Where, δ is the Dirac-delta function &

Fig: Illustrating the Radon Transform

• Pθ(ω) is the 1D FT of a projection at a fixed angle θ

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