Design and Simulation Study of a CNT-Based Multisource Cubical CT System for Dynamic Objects

Abstract EN

The purpose of this paper is to design and simulate a new computed tomography (CT) system with a high temporal resolution for dynamic objects.

We propose a multisource cubical CT (MCCT) system with X-ray tubes and detectors installed on a cube.

Carbon nanotube- (CNT-) based X-ray focal spots are distributed on the twelve edges of the cube.

The distribution of X-ray focal spots and detectors completely avoids mechanical movements to scan an object under inspection.

CNTs are excellent electron field emitters because the use of a “cold” cathode makes it possible to fabricate a cathode with multiple electron emission points, and the CNT-based X-ray focal spots possess little response time and programmable emission.

The proposed rotation-free MCCT system can acquire a high scanning speed when using a high frame rate detector.

A three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction algorithm with tensor framelet-based L0-norm (TF-L0) minimization is developed for the simulation study of the MCCT.

Simulation experiment results demonstrate the feasibility of the MCCT system.