SBIR Phase II: A 3-D Image Matrix Processor

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9628968 Browne This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is a key part of an ARACOR initiative to develop a practical volumetric computed tomography (CT) scanner for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging applications. In the Phase I program, a high-level design for a specialized hardware accelerator, an Image Matrix Processor (IMP), was developed. The IMP is capable of performing, low-cost, high-speed 3-D reconstruction's with the principal reconstruction algorithms: VOIR, Grangeat, and Feldkamp. The truly innovative aspect of the IMP is its ability to perform both 2-D and 3-D reconstruction's with a single design. This is a significant technological innovation, eliminating the major technical obstacle to the progress of commercial 3-D CT: the exceedingly long reconstruction times required to process volumetric data. The goal is to build upon the successful Phase I effort by demonstrating the practicality of an IMP-based workstation, where practicality is defined in terms of speed and affordability. In particular, the technical objectives of the Phase II study are to refine the IMP design; assess its performance through detailed, gate-level simulations of the custom integrated circuits (ICs) which lie at the heart of the IMP; produce and test enough ICs to build one IMP circuit board; and characterize and benchmark the workstation with the power to reconstruct 10243 images in about an 2 hours (at today's CPU speeds) can be constructed for an order of magnitude less cost than a multiprocessor workstation capable of similar performance. This workstation of comparable power, will, for the first time, make it feasible for emerging medical, industrial and scientific applications requiring the creation and visualization of large volumetric images, to be within the domain of an ordinary desk-top environment. The commercial benefit of the IMP could prove to be extremely significant for America's industrial, medical, and scientific markets. The advent of practical volumetric indust rial CT systems will usher in a new era in manufacturing that will embody emerging concepts such as reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, and solid freeform fabrication. In the medical and scientific communities, and high resolution 3-D CT instrument will be an indispensable tool for in-vitro study of bone samples for osteoporosis research, for in-vivo study of small laboratory animals for oncology and other research, and novel 3-D visualization technologies such as surgical planning and 3-D modeling.