Patent ID: 8548118

Claim:
A CT system comprising: a rotatable gantry having an opening for receiving an object to be scanned; an x-ray source positioned on the rotatable gantry and configured to project x-rays toward the object; an x-ray detector positioned on the rotatable gantry and positioned to receive x-rays from the x-ray source that pass through the object; a generator configured to energize the x-ray source to a first voltage and configured to energize the x-ray source to a second voltage, the first voltage distinct from the second voltage; and a controller configured to: cause the rotatable gantry to be stationary and to position the x-ray source and the x-ray detector at a circumferential position during an imaging session; pass the object through the opening during the imaging session; cause the generator to energize the x-ray source to the first voltage and the second voltage during the imaging session; acquire CT scout imaging data: while the generator energizes the x-ray source to the first voltage and while the rotatable gantry remains stationary at the circumferential position; and while the generator energizes the x-ray source to the second voltage and while the rotatable gantry remains stationary at the circumferential position; and generate a dual-energy scout image using the CT scout imaging data; and determine additional CT tomographic data acquisition based on the dual-energy scout image, wherein, in determining additional CT tomographic data acquisition based on the dual-energy scout image, the controller is further configured to: determine if the image is adequate to diagnose a suspect pathology therewith; and determine whether to generate additional images if the image is not adequate to diagnose the suspect pathology, with any additional images that are generated being generated using the imaging data but with different target densities or different materials, so as provide for diagnosing of the suspect pathology.