Method and apparatus for reduction of metal artifacts in ct imaging
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsBruno K. B. De Man, Deborah Joy Walter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for reducing artifacts in image data generated by a computed tomography system is provided. The artifacts are due to the presence of a high density object in a subject of interest. CT data is acquired at a number of differing tilt angles. The data is then combined and reconstructed to generate an improved composite image substantially free of artifacts caused by the high density object.
Claims23
A computer readable storage medium having a computer program to adaptively control a CT system for reconstructing an image with reduced artifacts caused by a high density object in a scanned region of interest, the computer program representing a set of instructions that when executed by a computer causes the computer to:
- perform a plurality of x-ray scans at a plurality of tilt angles;
- acquire a plurality of projection data sets from the plurality of x-ray scans;
- combine the plurality of projection data sets;
- and
- reconstruct a composite image from the combined image data sets.
A method of reducing metal artifacts in CT imaging comprising:
- acquiring CT projection data of a region of interest at each of a number of differing irradiation angles;
- and
- combining the CT projection data acquired at each of the number of different irradiation angles so as to reduce metal artifacts in a resulting image.
A CT imaging system to reduce metal artifacts comprising:
- a CT imaging apparatus comprising a data acquisition module including a gantry having a bore designed to receive a patient therethrough, the gantry having at least one x-ray source and an x-ray detector disposed therein to emit x-rays toward the patient and receive x-rays attenuated by the patient, respectively, the CT imaging apparatus further comprising a computer programmed to:
- acquire CT projection data at a number of tilt angles;
- merge the CT projection data to create an aggregate image;
- and
- wherein the merging is based on one of a variance map, morphological operations, and an iterative reconstruction process.
The CT imaging system of claim 18 wherein the computer is further programmed to:
- reconstruct an image from the CT projection data at each of the number of tilt angles;
- and
- merge the images to create an aggregate image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.