Patent ID: 7806588

Claim:
A method for generating an image series for 3D reconstruction of an image of a subject using an x-ray imaging system comprising a C-arm, rotatable around a rotational axis, that has an x-ray source and a flat panel x-ray detector mounted thereon, and a patient table movable between the x-ray source and the flat panel x-ray detector, said method comprising the steps of: in a processor, receiving an input that establishes an envelope in coordinates defined relative to the patient table; in said processor, receiving an input that establishes a point in a region of interest of the subject; for each of a plurality of positions of said C-arm around said rotational axis, calculating, in said processor, a position of the patient table, for obtaining image data from said region of interest in the patient on the patient table, for which a radiation-receiving surface of the flat panel detector is perpendicular to a straight line proceeding from said point and for which the radiation receiving surface of the flat panel x-ray detector tangentially contacts said envelope; and moving said C-arm through said plurality of positions and, at each of said positions of the C-arm, moving the patient table into the calculated position associated therewith, and operating said x-ray source and said radiation detector at each position to generate projection data, and making the projection data, acquired from each of said plurality of positions of said C-arm, available as an output from the flat panel x-ray detector for 3D reconstruction of an image of the region of interest.