Principles and Advancements in X-ray Computed Tomography

Level: Introductory Length: 4 hours Format: Online Intended Audience: Engineers, physicists, biomedical scientists, radiologists, and managers who need to understand the fundamentals and the state-of-the-art of CT. No special knowledge on CT is required, although basic knowledge of x-ray physics and Fourier transform is a plus. Description: SPIE online courses are on-demand and self-paced, with access for one year. For more information: ONLINE COURSES This course will present a description of the fundamental physics and mathematical principles of CT. Key system performance parameters and design tradeoffs are reviewed. Causes and corrections of various image artifacts are extensively discussed. Potential impact of image artifacts and performance parameters on other computer-based algorithms, such as CAD and 3D volume rendering, is outlined. The second part of the tutorial will focus on the recent technology advancements in CT. Basic principles, benefits, and inherent issues associated with the helical (spiral) CT, multi-slice CT, and volumetric CT will be described. Different reconstruction approaches to combat artifacts associated with cone beam and helical interpolation are examined. The tutorial will conclude with a discussion on the recent advancements in CT applications, such as cardiac imaging, perfusion, dual energy, and fluoroscopy. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - Acquire the fundamental principles of CT - Explain mathematical foundations of CT image reconstruction - Identify and analyze major system performance parameters and tradeoffs - Describe the major causes and corrections of image artifacts, such as aliasing, beam hardening, off-focal radiation, patient motion, metal artifacts, detector non-ideal response, projection truncation, 3D artifacts, and others - Discuss recent advancement in CT technology - Assess recent advancement in clinical applications - Module 1: Introduction and Fundamentals of X-ray CT - Describe the history and basic terminology of CT - Examine important CT x-ray system and major component physics - Explain the fundamental theory of image reconstruction - Probe image presentation techniques used in CT - Module 2: Key performance parameters - Examine important CT performance parameters - Explore factors that impact these parameters - Explain the impact of these parameters on images - Module 3: Image artifacts and corrections - Survey different image artifacts - Examine the root causes of the artifacts - Explore different techniques to avoid, reduce, or eliminate image artifacts - Module 4: Helical and multi-slice CT - Explain the principles and advantages of helical acquisition - Describe reconstruction techniques and artifact related to helical - Describe the principles of multi-slice acquisition - Explore the technological challenges associated with multi-slice CT - Explain reconstruction technologies and artifacts associated with mutli-slice - Module 5: Recent advancements in technology and applications - Describe challenges and approaches for cardiac imaging - Explain fundamentals of CT perfusion - Examine the fundamentals and clinical applications of dual-energy CT - Explore recent advancement in image reconstruction and presentation Instructor(s): Jiang Hsieh is a Chief Scientist in the Applied Science Laboratory of GE Healthcare Technologies and an adjunct professor in the Medical Physics Department of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has more than 20 years of experience in medical imaging. He holds over 100 US patents, has co-authored more than 100 articles, book chapters, and textbook. He taught AAPM summer school, refresher courses at RSNA, short courses at IEEE Medical Imaging Conference, AAPM annual meeting, and SPIE Medical Imaging Conference. His research interests include tomographic reconstruction, CT image artifact reduction and correction, signal processing, image processing, and advanced CT applications.