Automated phase selection for ECG-gated cardiac axial CT scans

A computed tomography system, comprising:

• a radiation source;
• a detector array;
• and
• an image reconstructor configured to:
• receive extended scan data comprising projections and backprojections acquired for parallel rays emitted by the radiation source at different angular locations within a first range of source angles, wherein the first range of source angles extends greater than 240° about an axis of rotation of the radiation source;
• compare the projections and the backprojections to identify differences between the projections and the backprojections at the different angular locations;
• based on the identified differences between the projections and the backprojections, quantify movement of an anatomical object during acquisition of the extended scan data at the different angular locations;
• identify short scan data comprising a subset of the extended scan data acquired at different locations within a second range of source angles where the quantified movement of the anatomical object is less than a movement threshold, wherein the second range of source angles is less than the first range of source angles about the axis of rotation;
• and
• reconstruct a computed tomography image of the anatomical object from the short scan data.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed via a processing unit cause performance of operations involving extended scan data comprising projections and backprojections acquired for parallel rays emitted by a radiation source at different angular locations within a first range of source angles, wherein the first range of source angles extends greater than 240° about an axis of rotation, the operations comprising:

• comparing the projections and the backprojections to identify differences between the projections and the backprojections at the different angular locations;
• based on the identified differences between the projections and the backprojections, quantifying movement of an anatomical object during acquisition of the extended scan data at the different angular locations;
• identifying short scan data comprising a subset of the extended scan data acquired at different locations within a second range of source angles where the quantified movement of the anatomical object is less than a movement threshold, wherein the second range of source angles is less than the first range of source angles about the axis of rotation;
• and
• reconstructing a computed tomography image of the anatomical object from the short scan data.