title: Top-level design and pilot analysis of low-end CT scanners based on linear scanning for developing countries.
abstract: The goal is to develop new architectures for computed tomography (CT) which are at an ultra-low-cost for developing countries, especially in rural areas. The proposed general scheme is inspired by the recently developed compressive sensing and interior tomography techniques, where the data acquisition system targets a region of interest (ROI) to acquire limited and truncated data. Similar to linear tomosynthesis, the source and detector are translated in opposite directions but in contrast to conventional tomosynthesis, our proposal is for either ROI reconstruction with one or more localized linear scans or global reconstruction by combining multiple ROI reconstructions. In other words, the popular slip ring is replaced by a translation based setup, and the instrumentation cost is reduced by a relaxation of the imaging speed requirement. The various translational scanning modes are theoretically analyzed, and the scanning parameters are optimized. The numerical simulation results from different numbers of linear scans confirm the feasibility of the proposed scheme, and suggest two preferred low-end systems for horizontal and vertical patient positions respectively. Ultra-low-cost x-ray CT is feasible with our proposed combination of linear scanning, compressive sensing, and interior tomography. The proposed architecture can be tailored into permanent, movable, or reconfigurable systems as desirable. Advanced image registration and spectral imaging features can be included as well.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems, Engineering Research Center of Industrial Computed Tomography Nondestructive Testing, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China Biomedical Imaging Center, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Fenglin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, VT-WFU School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Hengyong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Imaging Center, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Wenxiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Imaging Center, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003906:Developing Countries; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D056888:Patient Positioning; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000191:economics* / Q000295:instrumentation*
keywords: Computed tomography (CT); compressive sensing; interior tomography; linear scanning; low-cost