Respiratory-gated micro-CT using a carbon nanotube based micro-focus field emission x-ray source

A prototype physiologically gated micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) system based on a field emission micro-focus x-ray source has been developed for in vivo imaging of small animal models. The novel x-ray source can generate radiation with a programmable waveform that can be readily synchronized and gated with non-periodic physiological signals. The system performance is evaluated using phantoms and sacrificed and anesthetized mouse models. Prospective respiratory-gated CT images of anesthetized free-breathing mice are collected using this scanner at 100 msec temporal resolution and 101p/mm of 10% system MTF.