1-CT scanning Principle

The CT machine-2
3-Data acquisition
system
Image Reconstruction-4
CT Coordinate Systems-5
Multi-row detector-6
The spiral CT scan-7
Dual Source CT-8
 Introduction
The 2D imaging by using x-ray –which is generated by
projection from x-ray source through the object
,to the film-, is unable to produce sectional information
provided that it is associated with an important
problem known as "Superimoposition",that is all organs
.on the scanned body appear on top of each other
 Tomographic Techniques
A- Linear conventional tomography
it gives longitudinal sectional information, it depends on moving x-ray tube and
.the film in synchrony about an axis defines the sectional plane of the patient
 B- Computed tomography
It differs from the conventional tomography that the x-ray tube and the
detectors rotate axially around the body to give transverse slices, the
data is acquired from these slices then processed, a computer finally
.takes the processed data and reconstructs the image to be displayed
CT scanning Principle
It consists of three main steps

Measurement step
: -
.Multiple X-rays are taken as the CT X-ray tube revolves around the patient
then it determine the linea rattenuation of x-ray along a number of narrow
columns in a thin slice of a patient
X-ray attenuation
The basic equation for attenuation of a x-ray beam through
a homogeneous material is
Beer's Law:

,If the scan object is composed of a number of different materials

:the equation becomes

where I0 is the initial X-ray intensity, µ is the linear attenuation coefficient

for the material being scanned (units: 1/length),
and x is the length of the X-ray path through the material.
 :Reconstruction step -
Involves conversion of these column measurements that is collected as
.single dimensiona values into a matrix of small volumes (voxels)
.This can be done by a software using a number of different algorithms

Display/Archive step -
This information is fed into a computer, which translates the values into
different shades of gray. These images are displayed on a television
monitor and photographed as a series of two-dimensional images depicting
.a cross section of the part under examination
 The CT machine

Y
S ource
ys
X-Ra
X

Z
tector Array
De
 Machine Components
:Scanning unit (gantry)-1
;It is the main body of the CT machine and it involves

:a- X-ray tube

The x_ ray tube is simply a glass- enclosed vacuum tube consist of a cathode that
.thermally emits electrons and anode that attracts these electrons
:Component of x- ray tube

:Anode )1
Target which mostly made of ( tungsten or molybdenum )
May be rotations or stations as in (CT)

:Cathode assembly )2
Consists of filament which made of tungsten wire (small focus or large focus)
the power supply which heat the filament is low voltage AC from filament
transformer supplying (8 -12) volt
:x-ray tube envelope )3
Is made of metal ceramic and it must be high vacuum
Advantage 1- collect the scattered electrons from anode
improved heat conduction from anode-2

:housing)4
Is a tube a enclosure fill with oil which act as a heat conduction system
.and radiation shield

:oil)5
.for cooling the anode by heat absorption

:Thermal switch )6
.Turn off the device when the rate of heat increases on a certain limit
 b-Shielding
Each CT scanner is equipped with grids, collimators and filters to provide
shielding against scattered radiation, to define the scan slice and to
absorb the low-energy portion of the X-ray spectrum. In this way
.both the patient and the examiner are protected

:The filter-
Filtration of x- ray (first lead part), it is a slice of ( aluminum and copper )
Which placed between patient and x – ray tube in order to reduce the
patient dose and this makes by absorption low energy photon in spectrum
:Collimator-
It is a two lead part this control the shape of x-ray beam which fall
on the wanted part of the body and this collimator consist of a
. heavy metal (copper) to absorb unwanted x-ray

The source collimator-1

It is located directly in front of the radiation sourcei.e. the
.X-ray tube
It reduces the radiation beam to form themaximum required fan
.beam, thus also determining the emitted dose

:The detector collimator-2

which is positioned directly in front of the detectors, is primarily
used to shield the detector against scattered radiation
c- x-ray Detector
Converts the attenuated x- ray after penetration the body into an
.electrical signal to be processed by a computer
: Types of detectors used in CT
xenon gas filled lionization chambers -1
Principle
Gas detectors rely on the ionization of gas atoms and collection of induced -
charge by electrodesa high voltage is applied across the electrodes in order to
. collect the free electrons and gas ions caused by the ionizing event -
scintillation crystals and semiconductors combination -2

Where the crystal emit visible ultra violet spectrum

light and followed by photodiode
.The gantry can be tilted + or - 30° in some applications as shown in figure below -

In the gantry the x-ray tube faces the detectors and they are all fixed on -
the same rigid frame which rotates around the patient (patient table) as
.shown in the figure
-There is a large open in the gantry through the patient table moves.
CT gantry with cover removed
:Patient table or couch -2
It consists of two parts; lower fixed part and upper movable one which
.moves into the gantry open
Operating console-3
:
,The console represents the man-machine interface
through which we can enter patient's data ,scan
type and the program required (Head, Body, Spiral scan, ..… )
.by the use of a key board
:Computer(processing unit) -4
.It involves the computer with hard disk ,floppy and magneto-optical disk
The computer receives the electronic signal from the detector, an analog
to digital converter converts this analog signal to a digital one, and through
,a software the attenuation of each voxel of the image matrix is calculated
.there by a digital image is formed

:Image printing unit-5

It is a camera usually a laser camera nowadays which uses a laser beam to
.print the image on a sensitive film and its program is loaded also on the hard disk

:X-ray power generator-6

A typical x-ray generator derives its power from (single or 3phase mains supply)
Data acquisition system
It is the unit receives information from the detectors

It is consist of

1-Integrator boards

2-Analog to digital converters

3-Timing boards

4- Information addition unit

 Image Reconstruction
,The software mainly depends on mathematical reconstruction algorithm
which reconstruct the image from the scanning data by means of the computer

.back projection-1
The simplest way of image reconstruction is the back-projection
.method and its principles are shown in the figures
NOTE:
The quality of the reconstructed image is improved with
.increasing number of projections as shown
mathematical reconstruction algorithms

Iterative method-1

An initial guess about the two dimensional pattern of attenuation is

made(reconstructed model).the projection data predicted by this
model are then calculated and these predictions compared with
.the measured results

:Analaytic method-2

In this method the image is constructed directly from the projection data
without any comparison between the measured data and the reconstructed
.model. Fundamental to analytic methods is the concept of back projection
 Generations of CT scanners
First generation

The scanner uses a single x-ray source(tube) and a single detector-

.faces each other on a rigid frame,
.The motion is one of translation and rotation in angular steps-
Second generation

The scanner uses a single x-ray tube as the first one ,but with multiple -
.detectors(from10 to about 100) fixed with the source on a rigid frame

.The x-ray beam is fan shaped-

Third generation
It is like the second but has detector array wide enough to cover the-
.whole patient body with a fan of x-ray

The motion involves rotation only of the source and the detector-
.array synchrony also
Fourth generation
The scanner uses a single rotating x-ray tube and stationary 360°-
. ring of detectors

.The motion includes the rotation of x-ray tube inside this ring-
Fifth generation

.It is a newer type of CT technology called electron beam CT

,It take pictures much more quickly than conventional CTs
and are therefore better able to produce clear images of the
heart as it pumps blood. Because it is a newer and expensive
test, electron beam CT scanning is not widely use
 CT Coordinate Systems

Z
SDD = Source to Detector Distance
SID = Source to Isocenter Distance
2B= Fan Angle (detection span-angle) 
FOV = Field Of View SID
Maximum reconstructable circle =
M = Magnification
SDD

FOV [Link]. sin 

SDD
M 
SID
 Multi-row detector

Multi-row detectors utilize radiation delivered from the

X-ray tube more efficiently than single-row detectors.
By simultaneously scanning several slices ( multislice scanner ),
the scan time can be reduced significantly or the smallest details
can be scanned within practicable scan times
 Slice thickness selection

Slice thikness
Z
 :Depends on

:A-Collimation
Collimation provides considerable flexibility in the selection of slice thicknesses
 sx
:B-Detector size ax
px

Z sz

pz = detection pitch along Z

az = detection active length along Z pz
sz = Detection separator along Z

pz = az + sz az

pz pz SID
Slice _ Width   X

M SDD
 The spiral CT scan
.“Spiral CT is often referred to as “volume scanning
the patient on the table is moved continuously through the scan
field in the z direction while the gantry performs multiple 360
rotations in the same direction. The X-ray thus traces a spiral
around the body and produces a data volume
 Dual Source CT
.It uses 2 x-ray sources and 2 detector arrays offset at 90 degrees
 Benefits of DSCT
Double the speed

The two source/detector combinations only needs to

travel 90 degrees, hence double the speed

Twice the imaging power

Dual Source CT accumulates the power of two

separated sources resulting in unprecedented
.160 kW

Half the dose

It subjects patients to as much as 50 percent less

radiation exposure than the most advanced single-
.source CT systems
Improve resolution

Temporal resolution
.better than 100 ms (83 ms)-

Spatial resolution
.sub-millimeter (0.4 mm) -

Single source CT
single source CT ,Dual Source CT
scanners use on the other hand,
multisegment always acquires
reconstruction cardiac images
with high dose from single
resulting .heartbeats
Beyond Visualization with Dual Energy

Two X-ray sources running simultaneously at different energies

acquire two data sets showing different attenuation levels. The
material-specific difference in attenuation shown in the resulting
.image could facilitate classification of the tissue type
Siemens launched the new dual-source CT, called Somatom
.Definition, it is the first and only dual source CT till now

SOMATOM Definition
 System set- up

Straton tubes 2
Z- sharp technology
x 32- row detectors( Multislice UFC) 2
sec gantry rotation 0.33
ECG unit
CT patient table (220 kg/485 lbs. table load)

X- ray power

x 80 kW generator 2
 Straton tube
aton is the name of a novel directly cooled X-ray tube proprietary to Siemens.
The tube itself is a radical new design, where the entire tube body rotates
.rather than just the anode, as is the case with conventional designs ,
This change allows all the bearings to be located outside the evacuated
tube, and enables the anode to be cooled more efficiently
Advantage of STRATON tube

It cools down within only 20 seconds

higher tube lifetime

reduced life-cycle cost

ultralight and small tube

higher G-forces

increased gantry rotation speed

 Z-Sharp technology
The Z-Sharp technology enables two focal points in the anode
.by precise deflection of the electron beam within the x-ray tube
.The deflection process generates two overlapping beams to pass the scan field
 ECG unit
For controlling Tube Current Modulation

.It can automatically adjust the table speed to the heart rate of the patient

Heart rate controlled dose modulated

 Clinical applications

.It can image all body organs-

.specialized in cardiac imaging-