ECG gated circular cone-beam multi-cycle short-scan reconstruction algorithm

In this contribution, the results of a phantom study for in-stent restenosis imaging with ECG gated continuous circular acquisition and reconstruction are summarized. Different rotation speeds and angular ranges are used to enable high resolution 3D and 4D reconstruction of objects covered by the cone at a high temporal resolution. Though the detector coverage of today's CT scanners is not large enough to irradiate the complete human heart, the coverage is sufficient to image smaller objects like conventional stents. We applied the proposed method to the visualization of an in-stent re-stenoses phantom covered by a clinical stent, attached to a dynamic heart phantom. The method delivers images of stents in vitro at an excellent visibility and is able to rule out in-stent occlusions.