Patent ID: 7379532

Claim:
A C-arm X-ray system with synchronized ECG gating for enhanced cardiac soft-tissue imaging, comprising: an X-ray source disposed on a C-arm for rotation in a circular path about a patient and configured to release X-ray radiation periodically and synchronously with an ECG-gating signal that is periodically activated at a fixed point in each cycle of the patient's heart, wherein said periodic synchronous release reduces the patient's accumulated X-ray radiation exposure during said cardiac soft-tissue imaging; an X-ray image sensor disposed on the C-arm in a fixed opposing position to the X-ray source and configured to rotate with the source and receive the X-ray radiation; an ECG unit for acquiring ECG data from the patient; a digital image acquisition processor arranged in communication with the X-ray source, X-ray image sensor and ECG unit for acquiring 2D projection images by the X-ray image sensor at predetermined C-arm angulations at the release of the X-ray radiation synchronously in the presence of the periodic ECG-gating signals; an image processor arranged in communication with the digital image acquisition processor to receive and process the series of 2D projection images and reconstruct a continuous 3D volumetric image of the patient's cardiac soft tissue therefrom; and a user interface to allow user control of the C-arm X-ray system and to display the continuous 3D volumetric image.