A new CT collimator for producing two simultaneous overlapping slices from one scan
A new CT collimator is developed which is capable of producing two simultaneous successive overlapping images from a single scan. The collimator represents a modification of the standard EMI 5005 collimator achieved by alternately masking one end or portions of both ends of the X-ray detectors at a 13-mm beamwidth so that a set of 540 filtered projections is obtained for each scan which can be separated into two sets of interleaved projections corresponding to views 3 mm apart. Tests have demonstrated that the quality of the images produced from these two projections almost equals the quality of those produced by the standard collimator from two separate scans. The new collimator may thus be used to achieve a speed improvement in the generation of overlapping sections as well as a reduction in X-ray dosage.