Computer reconstructed X-ray imaging

Abstract

Computed tomography is a method for obtaining a series of radiographic pictures of contiguous slices through a solid object such as the human body. Each picture is computed from a set of X-ray transmission measurements and represents the distribution of X-ray attenuation in the slice. The high sensitivity of the method to changes in both density and atomic number has resulted in the development of new diagnostic methods in medicine. The limitations of the method are discussed in terms of two particular kinds of application. First, those applications in which a very precise determination of density or atomic number is required, but at low spatial resolution; an example would be the determination of the uniformity of mixture of plastics or metals. The second kind of application is that requiring high spatial resolution as in the detection of cracks and the visualization of internal structures in complicated objects.