Compression and storage of projection data in a computed tomography system

In a computed tomography system comprising a stationary part, a rotatable part mounted for rotation around an object to be examined and an interface between the stationary part and the rotatable part, the rotatable part including a sensor array for detecting radiation passing through the object, the sensor array producing a plurality of sets of projection data corresponding to a plurality of views, wherein each set includes an array of samples acquired for a corresponding view during a data acquisition period, an apparatus comprising:

• a compressor located on the rotatable part coupled to receive the samples of the projection data from the sensor array and forming compressed samples, wherein the compressed samples for each set of projection data are arranged in at least one compressed packet, wherein each compressed packet contains the compressed samples of a corresponding portion of the projection data, wherein the compressor generates an access array containing a plurality of data access parameters corresponding to the plurality of compressed packets, wherein at least one index parameter is associated with the corresponding portion of the projection data for each of the plurality of compressed packets, wherein the compressor determines the data access parameters based on sizes of the compressed packets, wherein the access array associates the data access parameter with the index parameter of the corresponding portion of the projection data;
• a storage device located on the rotatable part and coupled to the compressor, wherein a plurality of the compressed packets for the plurality of sets of projection data are stored during a controllable time period, wherein each of the compressed packets is stored at a corresponding location in the storage device that is accessible based on a packet location parameter, the storage device retrieving at least one of the compressed packets stored therein in accordance with the packet location parameter in response to a data access command;
• a transmitter coupled to the storage device to transfer the compressed packet retrieved from the storage device over a communication channel of the interface to the stationary part;
• a receiver located on the stationary part coupled to receive the compressed packet from the communication channel of the interface;
• and
• a decompressor coupled between the receiver and an image reconstruction processor, the decompressor decompressing the compressed samples of the received compressed packet to form decompressed samples of the corresponding portion of the projection data and providing the decompressed samples to the image reconstruction processor for subsequent reconstruction of an image of the object.