This $536,954 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the "Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health" (CFDA 93.286) program supports the development of an ultra-high spatial resolution photon-counting computed tomography (CT) system with multiple focal spots. The key objectives are to: Develop system models and reconstruction approaches for data acquisition using multiple focal...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084) is dedicated to developing a novel high-brightness rotating envelope micro-focus transmission X-ray source. The $274,158 award to Reva X-Ray Systems Corporation aims to enhance the throughput, resolution, and sensitivity of X-ray metrology systems, with applications in semiconductor manufacturing, battery production, and non-destructive testing....
This $255,187 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286) supports research and development of ultra-high resolution cone-beam CT imaging technologies using pixelated scintillators. The grant aims to advance indirect-detection X-ray flat panel detectors (FPDs) by improving the performance of scintillator components that...
This Project Grant award, funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286), aims to optimize the image quality of mobile photon-counting CT (PCCT) scanners for use in the neuro intensive care unit (ICU). The $1,344,298 award to The General Hospital Corporation (Massachusetts General Hospital) will leverage the benefits of FDA-approved mobile PCCT...
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) awarded a $546,874 Project Grant under the "Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health" (CFDA 93.286) program to the Mayo Clinic. The grant aims to develop AI-assisted quantitative photon-counting-detector CT imaging techniques for improved cytogenetic risk prediction and treatment response monitoring in multiple myeloma patients. Specifically, the project will: 1)...
This $2,000,000 Project Grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Infrastructure Programs (CFDA 93.351) will enable The University of Iowa to upgrade its existing research CT scanner to a state-of-the-art photon-counting CT scanner (Siemens NAEOTOM Alpha). The new scanner will significantly enhance the university's ability to conduct advanced quantitative lung imaging research across multiple disease areas, including COPD, asthma, IPF, and long COVID. Key benefits of...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Program (CFDA 47.041) Project Grant award of $433,986 to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) aims to revolutionize X-ray science by developing new nanoscale photonics technologies. The project will experimentally validate the production of X-rays through quantum interference of electrons, enabling the generation of highly directional, monochromatic X-rays with energies up to tens of keV. It seeks to create attosecond-duration...
This $1.2 million project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Computing and Communication Foundations, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070), supports the development of novel model-based iterative reconstruction algorithms for high-resolution computed tomography imaging from low-dose X-ray data. The University of Florida will leverage techniques from approximation theory and performance optimization tools to address computational...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286) provides funding for research into a novel multiphoton parallel transmit technology for improving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ultra-high field strengths. The $185,625 award to the General Hospital Corporation (Massachusetts General Hospital) will be used to develop and...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under CFDA 93.286 "Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health" provides $417,837 to the University of Texas at Austin to develop a new computational framework and specialized antenna arrays to enhance 3D electromagnetic (EM) imaging capabilities. The key products and services to be delivered through this 24-month award include:...
MULTIPLE X-RAY SOURCE ARRAY (MXA) COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY - MULTIPLE-X-RAY SOURCE ARRAY-BASED COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (MXA-CT) THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ARE TO DEVELOP AN X-RAY TUBE WHICH CONTAINS AN ARRAY OF 6 X- RAY SOURCES WITHIN THE SAME VACUUM ENCLOSURE, AND THEN DEMONSTRATE THE UTILITY OF THIS MULTIPLE X -RAY SOURCE ARRAY (MXA) TOWARDS IMPROVING IMAGE QUALITY IN WHOLE BODY (GENERAL-PURPOSE) COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) SCANNERS AS WELL AS CONE BEAM CT SYSTEMS. CURRENT CT SYSTEMS WITH A SINGLE X-RAY SOURCE WHICH HAVE LARGE COVERAGE ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE PATIENT (THE Z-AXIS) SUFFER FROM CONSIDERABLE CONE BEAM ARTIFACTS AT THE PERIPHERAL EDGES OF THE FIELD-OF-VIEW, DUE TO INCOMPLETE SAMPLING CAUSED BY ANGLED X-RAY TRAJECTORIES IMPOSED BY THE GEOMETRY OF A SINGLE X-RAY SOURCE SYSTEM. BY ALIGNING SIX X-RAY SOURCES ALONG THE Z-AXIS AND PULSING THEM WISELY DURING THE CT SCAN, THE ANGLED X-RAY TRAJECTORIES WHICH CAUSE CONE BEAM ARTIFACTS CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED, ESSENTIALLY ELIMINATING THESE CONE BEAM ARTIFACTS. THE SPECIFIC AIMS INCLUDE (1) DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TESTING OF THE SIX-SOURCE X-RAY TUBE, (2) DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A TEST BED TABLETOP CT SCANNER WHICH WILL USE THE MXA SOURCE TO DEMONSTRATE THE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE OF THE PROPOSED SCANNER SYSTEM AS A PROOF -OF- PRINCIPLE, (3) WORK IN COLLABORATION WITH ONE OF THE LARGEST MANUFACTURERS OF X-RAY TUBES IN THE WORLD (VAREX) TO GAIN FROM THEIR X-RAY TUBE (AND DETECTOR) EXPERIENCE AND DEMONSTRATE WITH THEM THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL POTENTIAL OF THIS NEW X-RAY TUBE DESIGN IN A WAY THAT FACILITATES COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE MXA-CT TECHNOLOGY, (4) DEVELOPMENT OF CT IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION ALGORITHMS (INCLUDING CONVENTIONAL AND AI-BASED) WHICH ARE SPECIFICALLY TAILORED TO THE UNIQUE GEOMETRY OF THE PROPOSED TABLETOP CT PROTOTYPE, (5) PERFORM MONTE CARLO AND OTHER COMPUTER SIMULATIONS TO THOROUGHLY EVALUATE THE RADIATION DOSE DISTRIBUTION PRODUCED BY THIS NEW SCA NNER GEOMETRY, AND (6) USE PHANTOM AND CADAVER IMAGING EXPERIMENTS ON THE PROTOTYPE MXA-CT SYSTEM TO DEMONSTRATE SUPERIOR CT IMAGING PERFORMANCE USING RIGOROUS QUANTITATIVE METRICS OF IMAGE QUALITY AND ARTIFACT REDUCTION. THIS PROPOSAL IS SUBMITTED UNDER THE BIOENGINEERING PARTNERSHIPS WITH INDUSTRY (BPI, PAR-22-123), AND REPRESENTS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE, AND VAREX IMAGING AS OUR CORPORATE PARTNER. ALONG WITH T HREE ENGAGED CONSULTANTS, THE RESEARCH TEAM POSSESSES DEPTH AND BREADTH WITH RESPECT TO CT IMAGING AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, ALONG WITH ESTABLISHED TRACK RECORDS OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE MEMBERS OF THE TEAM .