Case No. 2007-058
SUMMARY
UCLA researchers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the California NanoSystems Institute have developed a new tomographic imagine technique providing higher spatial resolution at a lower radiation dose.
BACKGROUND
Tomographic imaging, such as CT, works by acquiring projections of an object through equal angle intervals and reconstructs the object through algorithms such as Filtered Back Projection. Such methods are not mathematically exact and consequently result in images of considerably lower resolution, contrast, and signal to noise ratio. More significantly, conventional methods require approximately 40-50% greater exposure of the patient or object to radiation which results in an increase of 40-50% higher probability of radiation damage or carcinogenesis to the patient. Development of new methods to reduce radiation exposure as well as increase spatial resolution are necessary as the FDA now limits radiation exposure for imaging.
INNOVATION
UCLA researchers led by Dr. Jianwei Miao have developed a novel tomographic imaging technique that uses an equally slopped method for data acquisition that not only provides higher resolution images, with high contrast and signal to noise, but with a significantly reduced radiation dose compared to previous acquisition methods. This invention can be applied to a variety of imaging techniques resulting in improved images.
APPLICATIONS
Tomographic imaging for biomedical imaging applications
ADVANTAGES
Superior image quality and significantly lower radiation dose to patient required by conventional methods
Can be implemented with a variety of imaging techniques including CT, PET, ultrasound, electron microscopy, and diffraction microscopy
STATE OF DEVELOPMENT
Researchers have validated their technology experimentally and computationally.
PATENT STATUS
Country Type Number Dated Case
Israel Issued Patent 196694 07/31/2013 2007-058
Mexico Issued Patent 306721 01/15/2013 2007-058
United States Of America Issued Patent 8,270,760 09/18/2012 2007-058