Methods and apparatus for computing volumetric perfusion

A method for computing volumetric perfusion in a spatially stationary organ using a computed tomography (CT) imaging system having a field of view, said method comprising:

• positioning an area detector such that the field of view of the area detector encompasses the spatially stationary organ for all view angles;
• operating the CT imaging system in a cine mode to acquire a plurality of projection data representative of tissue dynamics in the spatially stationary organ such that the projection data measuring an uptake and washout of a contrast agent at each view position is sampled at a suitable frequency;
• generating reconstructions of contrast dynamics of tissue using the projection data;
• and
• computing the volumetric perfusion in the organ using the reconstructions of the projection data representative of the tissue dynamics.

A computed tomography (CT) imaging system for computing volumetric perfusion in a spatially stationary organ comprising:

• a radiation source;
• an area detector;
• and
• a computer operationally coupled to said radiation source and said area detector, said computer configured to:
• position an area detector such that the area detector encompasses the spatially stationary organ within a field of view of the imaging system for all view angles;
• operate the CT imaging system in a cine mode to acquire a plurality of projection data representative of tissue dynamics in the spatially stationary organ;
• generate reconstructions of contrast dynamics of tissue using the projection data;
• and
• compute the volumetric perfusion in the organ using the projection data representative of the tissue dynamics.

A computed tomography (CT) imaging system for computing volumetric perfusion in a spatially stationary organ comprising:

• a radiation source;
• an area detector;
• and
• a computer operationally coupled to said radiation source and said area detector, said computer configured to:
• position the area detector such that the area detector encompasses a field of view including the spatially stationary organ for all view angles;
• and
• operate the CT imaging system in a cine mode to acquire a plurality of projection data representative of tissue dynamics in the spatially stationary organ such that projection data measuring an uptake and washout at each view position is sampled at a suitable frequency.

A computer readable medium encoded with a program configured to instruct a computer to:

• position an area detector such that the area detector encompasses a spatially stationary organ within a field of view of the imaging system for all view angles;
• operate a computed tomography (CT) imaging system in a cine mode to acquire a plurality of projection data representative of tissue dynamics in the spatially stationary organ;
• generate reconstructions of contrast dynamics of tissue using the projection data;
• and
• compute a volumetric perfusion in the organ using the reconstructions of the projection data representative of tissue dynamics.

A method for obtaining data of a spatially stationary organ using a computed tomography (CT) imaging system having a field of view, said method comprising:

• positioning an area detector such that the area detector encompasses a spatially stationary organ within a field of view for all view angles;
• operating the CT imaging system in a cine mode to acquire a plurality of projection data representative of the spatially stationary organ;
• filtering the acquired projection data to provide data with an improved signal-to-noise ratio;
• and
• interpolating the acquired projection data to generate projection data at any instant in time.