Electron beam CT - a potential tool for small animal imaging?

Electron beam CT has until today been exclusively used in cardiac imaging of human beings. As a high cost diagnostic tool with frame rates in the range of 20 s⁻¹ it has so far not been considered for small animal imaging. With recent progress in technology an application in this field becomes feasible. Especially perfusion imaging for heart and other organs using iodine based contrast agents may be a target of interest for electron beam CT. We present a small volume ultra fast electron beam CT scanner which was originally developed for process tomography applications and with it preliminary results of a small animal study showing visualization of heart motion and perfusion in a rat. We further discuss the potential of this new technology and novel technological principles which allow fast 3D electron beam imaging of small animals. Included in the discussion is an assessment of radiation effects.