Patent ID: 7515675

Claim:
A method for providing a projection image directly from normalized data acquired by a CT scanner, the method comprising: acquiring normalized data corresponding to an object that is scanned by the CT scanner, wherein the acquired normalized data is generated by an x-ray source that projects a fan beam of x-rays toward a detector array on an opposite side of a gantry of the CT scanner as the object is passed through an opening in the gantry, the acquired normalized data comprising data of the object to be constructed as the projection image; selecting a viewing direction of the object; selecting an imaging surface, at least a portion of the selected imaging surface corresponding to the viewing direction of the object; dividing the selected imaging surface into a plurality of rows and columns to create a grid of points corresponding to the selected imaging surface; determining, for each point in the grid, a data point in the acquired normalized data that corresponds to an x-ray source position such that a ray from the x-ray source to each point in the grid is closest to an orientation parallel to the viewing direction; determining a detector position where the ray intersects the detector array; and presenting the projection image corresponding to the selected imaging surface, wherein the projection image comprises a plurality of projection points and each projection point in the projection image is a converted value of the determined data points.