SBIR Phase II: Ultra-Fast Software Image Reconstruction for Micro-CT

The SBIR Phase II project aims to develop a software package that enables rapid image reconstruction for X-ray Micro-CT (computerized Tomography) imaging. Over the last few years, Micro-CT has become a very valuable tool in pharmaceutical and basic research. Current Micro-CT scanners have reached a resolution of 1 micrometer and thus allow high resolution in-vivo and ex-vivo three dimensional examination of entire small animals such as mice. Other applications of Micro-CT range from functional imaging to use in material science. Yet, high resolution reconstruction of a single data set can be extremely time intensive, thus limiting the use. If analysis software capable of speeding up image reconstruction by 2 or 3 orders of magnitude can be developed, such software would significantly decrease the time to analyze high-resolution Micro-CT images and would thus increase the utility of this powerful imaging method.