GPU-accelerated 3D volumetric X-ray-induced acoustic computed tomography.

X-ray acoustic imaging is a hybrid biomedical imaging technique that can acoustically monitor X-ray absorption distribution in biological tissues through the X-ray induced acoustic effect. In this study, we developed a 3D volumetric X-ray-induced acoustic computed tomography (XACT) system with a portable pulsed X-ray source and an arc-shaped ultrasound array transducer. 3D volumetric XACT images are reconstructed via the back-projection algorithm, accelerated by a custom-developed graphics processing unit (GPU) software. Compared with a CPU-based software, the GPU software reconstructs an image over 40 times faster. We have successfully acquired 3D volumetric XACT images of various lead targets, and this work shows that the 3D volumetric XACT system can monitor a high-resolution X-ray dose distribution and image X-ray absorbing structures inside biological tissues.