COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) FLUOROSCOPY IMAGING SYSTEM USING A STANDARD INTENSITY CT SCAN WITH REDUCED INTENSITY CT SCAN OVERLAYS

摘要

A method for providing CT fluoroscopy of a site during a medical procedure to visualize patient anatomy and a medical element during the procedure without subjecting the patient to unacceptable quantities of X-ray radiation, the method comprising: (1) taking a standard intensity CT scan of an internal procedure site; (2) taking a reduced intensity CT scan of the internal procedure site while the high-contrast medical element is inserted into the internal procedure site; (3) extracting a high-contrast medical element portion of the reduce intensity CT scan from the reduced intensity CT scan taken in Step 2; (4) merging the high-contrast medical element portion of the CT scan extracted in Step 3 with the standard intensity CT scan of the site taken in Step 1 to provide a composite CT scan; (5) displaying the composite CT scan generated in Step 4; and (6) returning to Step 1 or Step 2.