Spiral scanning computed tomography apparatus, and method for operating same, for cardiac imaging

US6266553A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Siemens Aktiengesellschaft · DE

Inventors

• Manfred Fluhrer · Hallerndorf, DE
• Klaus Klingenbeck-Regn · Nuremberg, DE
• Andreas Lutz · Bad Abbach, DE
• Judith Regn · Koblenzer Straße, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 11, 1998
• Grant date: Jul 24, 2001
• Expiry date: Sep 11, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N2223/612
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

In a computed tomography apparatus, and a method for operating same, for obtaining cardiac images, a spiral scan of a measurement volume containing a patient's heart is conducted, the production of the scanning data during the spiral scanning being synchronized with an ECG signal from the patient, in order to produce a graphic representation of the examination volume, and thus an image of the patient's heart. The ECG signal is employed to control the generation of the data during the spiral scanning at phase of the cardiac cycle wherein minimum movement of the heart takes place. The chronological correlation between the recording of the scanning data and the ECG signal is fixed, so that within each number of successive time intervals, a dataset is obtained completely within that time interval. The datasets from the successive time intervals are then combined to produce an image of the heart. Since the component images are all obtained in a low-motion phase of the heart, the resulting overall image is particularly sharp.