Slashdot Mirror
GPUs Helping To Lower CT Scan Radiation
Gwmaw writes with news out of the University of California, San Diego, on the use of GPUs to process CT scan data. Faster processing of noisy data allows doctors to lower the total radiation dose needed for a scan. "A new approach to processing X-ray data could lower by a factor of ten or more the amount of radiation patients receive during cone beam CT scans... With only 20 to 40 total number of X-ray projections and 0.1 mAs per projection, the team achieved images clear enough for image-guided radiation therapy. The reconstruction time ranged from 77 to 130 seconds on an NVIDIA Tesla C1060 GPU card, depending on the number of projections — an estimated 100 times faster than similar iterative reconstruction approaches... Compared to the currently widely used scanning protocol of about 360 projections with 0.4 mAs per projection, [the researcher] says the new processing method resulted in 36 to 72 times less radiation exposure for patients."
The TFA says that this tech is usually used prior to treatment, while the patient is in the treatment position.
Because processing a limited number of scans into a useful model previously took several hours, they were forced to perform many more scans to get a more accurate picture with which to build their model - because they don't want to leave the patient lying in the scanner for 6 hours prior to treatment.
With this improvement in processing power, they can produce the model from limited data in a feasable time.
So the summary does actually describe the breakthrough quite well: It's not a new image processing technique for working with limited data, it's just new hardware allowing that process to be run in a quicker way. Yes they're using a slightly new algorithm, but I doubt that is a massive breakthrough in itself.
CT scanning is associated with an increased risk of cancer in children. This development will significantly lower that risk.