Dynamic dose control for computed tomography

1. A method of dose modulation in CT imaging comprising:

acquiring initial transmission tomographic imaging data of an associated imaging subject using an x-ray radiation source revolving around the associated imaging subject for an initial revolution of the radiation source using a preselected level of radiation generated by the x-ray radiation source;

estimating a constant of proportionality relating:

(i) x-ray current of the x-ray radiation source and

(ii) attenuation of radiation raised to a selected power, the constant of proportionality being estimated based on the initial transmission tomographic imaging data acquired in the initial revolution;

performing tomographic imaging by acquiring transmission tomographic imaging data of the associated imaging subject using the x-ray radiation source revolving around the associated imaging subject;

during the tomographic imaging, determining an estimated attenuation of radiation for an upcoming position or angular bin of the revolving radiation source based on attenuations measured at previous positions or angular bins of the x-ray radiation source; and

prior to acquiring tomographic imaging data at the upcoming position or angular bin, adjusting a level of radiation produced by the x-ray radiation source by adjusting the x-ray current proportional to the estimated attenuation of radiation for the upcoming position or angular bin raised to the selected power using the estimated constant of proportionality.

2. The dose modulation method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining of an estimated attenuation of radiation includes:

estimating the attenuation based on attenuations measured for a previously acquired position or angular bin in which the radiation source was about an integer multiple of a half revolution away from the upcoming position or angular bin.

3. The dose modulation method as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the acquiring of tomographic imaging data includes:

relatively moving the associated imaging subject and the radiation source in a longitudinal direction generally transverse to a plane of revolution of the radiation source such that the radiation source follows a generally helical trajectory respective to the associated imaging subject.

4. The dose modulation method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the adjusting of an x-ray current includes:

limiting the adjusting of the x-ray current to a range defined by a minimum current value and a maximum current value.

5. The dose modulation method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the adjusting of the x-ray current proportional to the estimated attenuation of radiation raised to the selected power using the estimated constant of proportionality comprises:

adjusting the x-ray current proportional to a square root of the estimated attenuation of radiation using the estimated constant of proportionality.

6. The dose modulation method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the selected power is between about 0.1 and about 0.5.

7. A dose modulation processor for performing the dose modulation method set forth in claim 1 .

8. A method of dose modulation method in CT imaging, the method comprising:

acquiring transmission tomographic imaging data of an associated imaging subject using a radiation source revolving around the associated imaging subject;

during the tomographic imaging, determining an estimated attenuation of radiation for an upcoming position or angular bin of the revolving radiation source based on attenuations measured at previous positions or angular bins of the radiation source, the determining including (i) estimating a baseline radiation attenuation based on an average attenuation over an extended range of positions preceding the upcoming position or angular bin and (ii) estimating an axial radiation attenuation based on a previously acquired position or angular bin of the radiation source disposed about a half revolution away from the upcoming position; and

prior to acquiring tomographic imaging data at the upcoming position or angular bin, adjusting a level of radiation produced by the radiation source based on the estimated attenuation of radiation by (i) determining a baseline x-ray current component based on a ratio of the estimated baseline attenuation of the upcoming position or angular bin and the average attenuation of the initial revolution, (ii) determining an axial x-ray current component based on a ratio of the estimated axial attenuation of the upcoming position or angular bin and a maximum or average attenuation of a present revolution, and (iii) determining a total x-ray current by combining the baseline and axial x-ray current components.

9. A CT scanner including a processor programmed to perform a method according to claim 8 .

10. The dose modulation method as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the acquiring of tomographic imaging data includes:

acquiring helical tomographic imaging data.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

during the acquiring, revolving the radiation source around the associated imaging subject and simultaneously linearly moving the associated imaging subject such that the revolving and linear moving cooperatively define a helical orbit of the radiation source relative to the associated imaging subject.

12. The dose modulation method as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the estimating of a baseline modulation attenuation includes:

estimating the baseline modulation attenuation based on an average attenuation of transmission tomographic imaging data spanning an integer multiple of a revolution of the radiation source.