Development of a 3D CT scanner using cone beam

In order to acquire 3D data of high contrast objects such as bone, lung and vessels enhanced by contrast media for use in 3D image processing, we have developed a 3D CT-scanner using cone beam x ray. The 3D CT-scanner consists of a gantry and a patient couch. The gantry consists of an x-ray tube designed for cone beam CT and a large area two-dimensional detector mounted on a single frame and rotated around an object in 12 seconds. The large area detector consists of a fluorescent plate and a charge coupled device video camera. The size of detection area was 600 mm X 450 mm capable of covering the total chest. While an x-ray tube was rotated around an object, pulsed x ray was exposed 30 times a second and 360 projected images were collected in a 12 second scan. A 256 X 256 X 256 matrix image (1.25 mm X 1.25 mm X 1.25 mm voxel) was reconstructed by a high-speed reconstruction engine. Reconstruction time was approximately 6 minutes. Cylindrical water phantoms, anesthetized rabbits with or without contrast media, and a Japanese macaque were scanned with the 3D CT-scanner. The results seem promising because they show high spatial resolution in three directions, though there existed several point to be improved. Possible improvements are discussed.