Patent ID: 7664543

Claim:
A method of in vivo imaging of a portion of the lower abdomen of a patient, comprising: rotating a X-ray source and detector about a rotation axis that extends substantially perpendicular to the sagittal plane of the patient, wherein X-ray emission from the X-ray source pass between the pelvic bones of the patient, wherein the source and detector are configured so as to define a fan beam and fan beam angle, and the detector array is controlled to rotate a minimum of approximately 180° plus an angle equal to the fan beam angle during a scan; detecting radiation that has traversed the patient injected with a material including a high contrast material for X-ray imaging and a material for binding the high contrast material to a specific biological site if present in the portion of the lower abdomen of the patient; and generating a CT image of the portion of the lower abdomen of the patient so as to generate an image of the portion of the lower abdomen of the patient, wherein a scanning plane of the CT image extends between and excludes the pelvic bones of the patient so as to exclude relatively dense bone from the scanning plane while including relatively soft tissue therebetween.