Current Cone Beam CT reconstruction algorithms use the processor (CPU) to process the acquired data to generate an image. Graphics processors like NVIDIA Tesla can also process data but at 10-100 times faster than computer processors; however, programming for graphics processors is much harder and only recently it was made possible thanks to technologies from NVIDIA to help programmers do that.

Researchers from the University of California at San Diego were able reduce the amount of radiation to patients by ten folds or more thanks to a new approach for processing x-rays.

Cone Beam CT is not only used for scanning patients but also is used in image-guided radiation therapy (IGRP). Reducing total number of projections, mAs level per projection during a CT scan reduces the total radiation dose delivered to the patient. However, this results often in a noisy and mathematically incomplete data that takes hours to process through iterative processing via the computer’s processor. Because the Cone Beam is used for treatment, fast reconstruction is needed, explains the lead author Xun Jia, who is a post doctoral fellow at UCSD.

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Via labspaces