Exploring the potential of cycloidal computed tomography for advancing intraoperative specimen imaging

Abstract

A preliminary investigation into the use of cycloidal computed tomography for intraoperative specimen imaging is presented. Intraoperative imaging is applied in time-sensitive clinical settings, where obtaining a high-resolution, highquality image within minutes is paramount in evaluating the success of operations and/or the need for additional surgery. As a flexible imaging method that is compatible with x-ray phase contrast imaging, cycloidal computed tomography can provide both high spatial resolution and high image contrast, whilst keeping scan times short thanks to an effective under-sampling approach. To gather early evidence, the method was tested on resected breast and oesophageal tissue. The results, although preliminary, indicate that cycloidal imaging may indeed be beneficial for intraoperative specimen imaging, although further studies are required to confirm this potential.

Utility of knife-edge position tracking in cycloidal computed tomography

“…The precise gain in speed depends on the setup and acquisition parameters; in the specific case discussed in this paper, the continuous cycloidal scans were approximately 40 times shorter than the dithered scans. This can be useful in many applications, particularly those with tight time constraints, such as intraoperative imaging [ 19 , 20 ].…”