A New Imaging Method for Real-time 3D X-ray Reconstruction

Existing Computed Tomography (CT) systems are vulnerable to internal organ movements. This drawback is compensated by extra exposures and digital processing. CT being a radiation dose intensive modality, it is imperative to limit the patient's exposure to X-ray radiation, if only by removing the necessity to take extra exposures. A multiple pinhole camera, akin to optical lightfield imaging, to acquire simultaneously multiple X-ray projections is presented. This new method allows a single snapshot acquisition of all necessary projections for 3D reconstruction. It will also allow the real-time dynamic 3D X-ray reconstruction of moving organs, as it requires no scanning and no moving parts in its final implementation. A proof-of-concept apparatus that simulates the intended process was built and parallaxed images were obtained with minor processing. Synthetic 3D reconstruction tests are also presented.