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Beyond Anatomic Imaging: Seeing More with X-rays

Forum Details

Date: May 20, 2022 12-1 PM Eastern time

Speakers: Ioannis Sechopoulos, Ph.D., Radboud University

The last 40 years of advances have made computed tomography the workhorse of the radiology department of today. However, CT has traditionally been used as an anatomical imaging modality, providing information on only the size, location, and density of tissues and organs. However, the next step forward in CT imaging should takes us beyond simple morphology to depict organ and tissue function. It is no longer enough to find pathology, what we need is to find clinically-relevant pathology. For CT to stay at the forefront of radiological imaging for the next 40 years, we need to develop CT into a functional imaging modality. This will require the introduction of dynamic, 4D imaging, to query the perfusion properties of tissues and pathologies. For this, we need to develop and introduce the algorithms that allow for extended, or continuous, image acquisition at radiation doses and image noise levels that are clinically viable. This will require improvements in noise filtering, reconstruction, motion correction, and quantitative analysis, for which accurate human and image modeling will be key.