Novel Tetrahedron Beam CT for Point-of-Care Imaging in Ear, Nose, and Throat

ABSTRACT Point of care imaging is highly desired in otolaryngologic clinics for the diagnosis of earnose and throatENTdiseases including cancersDue to limited image qualitycurrent cone beam CTCBCTproducts act not as a substitute but rather as a complement to diagnostic Multi slice CTMSCTin maxillofacial and ENT imagingThe emerging multi source x ray source technology suggests new designs of CT systems that may have faster imaging speedimproved image qualityreduced radiation exposure and compact geometriesTetrahedron Beam Computed TomographyTBCTis a compact volumetric CT based on linear array multipixel x ray sources which can produce diagnostic quality volumetric images but in a much more compact geometry than CBCTThrough this projectwe will develop and validate ENT TBCT through the two specific aimsTo develop a ENT TBCT benchtop system with an MPTEX source and linear x ray detector arrayTo evaluate and characterize TBCT via phantom and animal cadaver imagingIn future Phase II studywe plan to develop a clinical prototype system and perform comparative imaging studies in ENT clinicsWe expect the novel office based ENT TBCT will become a highly effective point of care diagnostic imaging modality for otolaryngologic clinicsimprove the quality and efficacy by supporting prompt diagnosis and treatment of ENT cancers and other diseases NARRATIVE CT is an indispensablefirst line diagnostic imaging modality for cancers and other diseases in ear noseand throatENTclinicsPoint of care imaging is crucially important in ENT clinicsDuring the last decadeenabled by x ray flat panel imager technologycone beam CTCBCThas become an important imaging modality for image guided radiotherapy and interventionClinical usefulness of CBCT in diagnostic imaginghoweveris very limited due to its inferior image qualitymaking CBCT incompetent in diagnosis of soft tissue diseasesIn this projectwe will develop a novel Tetrahedron Beam Computed TomographyTBCTsystem based on multi pixel x ray source technologyUnlike current CBCTwhich employs wider detectors to increase axial coverageTBCT revolutionarily employs a linear x ray source array to achieve the same coveragethus fundamentally eliminates the inherent problems of CBCTTBCT is capable of producing diagnostic quality images with excellent soft tissue contrast thanks for its scatter rejection scanning geometryEnabled by the novel multi pixel x ray sourcethe novel ENT TBCT is expected to produce unprecedented high image quality and low x ray exposuretransform the practice in ENT clinics and greatly improve the efficacy and quality