Patent ID: 8184775

Claim:
A computed tomography (CT) scanner comprising: a gantry having an opening therein to receive a subject to be scanned; an x-ray source disposed within the gantry and configured to project a cone beam of x-rays at the subject during CT data acquisition; a detector array configured to detect x-rays passing through the subject; a dynamic collimator disposed near the x-ray source; and a controller configured to: rotate the x-ray source about the subject, wherein a single rotation of the x-ray source is divided into a first half-scan and a second half-scan; acquire a first set of imaging data during the first half-scan; acquire a second set of imaging data during the second half-scan; position the dynamic collimator after acquiring image data from one of the first half-scan and the second half-scan and simultaneous to the commencement of acquiring image data from the other of the first half-scan and the second half-scan, wherein the dynamic collimator is configured to obstruct a central portion of an x-ray beam emitted by the x-ray source during one of the first half-scan and the second half-scan; and reconstruct a CT image using the first set of imaging data and the second set of imaging data.