Experimental comparison of cone beam CT (CBCT) reconstruction and multi-view reconstruction (MVR) for microangiography (MA) detector system.

The new Multi-View Reconstruction (MVR) method for generating 3D vascular images was evaluated experimentally. The MVR method requires only a few digital subtraction angiographic (DSA) projections to reconstruct the 3D model of the vessel object compared to 180 or more projections for standard CBCT. Full micro-CBCT datasets of a contrast filled carotid vessel phantom were obtained using a Microangiography (MA) detector. From these datasets, a few projections were selected for use in the MVR technique. Similar projection views were also obtained using a standard x-ray image intensifier (II) system. A comparison of the 2D views of the MVRs (MA and II derived) with reference micro-CBCT data, demonstrated best agreement with the MA MVRs, especially at the curved part of the phantom. Additionally, the full 3D MVRs were compared with the full micro-CBCT 3D reconstruction resulting for the phantom with the smallest diameter (0.75 mm) vessel, in a mean centerline deviation from the micro-CBCT derived reconstructions of 29 μm for the MA MVR and 48 μm for the II MVR. The comparison implies that an MVR may be substituted for a full micro-CBCT scan for evaluating vessel segments with consequent substantial savings in patient exposure and contrast media injection yet without substantial loss in 3D image content. If a high resolution system with MA detector is used, the improved resolution could be well suited for endovascular image guided interventions where visualization of only a small field of view (FOV) is required.