Parallel tomographic image reconstruction on transputer arrays

Tomographic Image Reconstruction forms an important element of non-invasive medical diagnosis. Here, 2D cross-sectional information of a 3D object is reconstructed from equiangular X-Ray projection data. Several algorithms have been proposed to solve the inverse problem of Image Reconstruction, however, the Fourier Backprojection (FBP) Algorithm is the most widely used method due to its speed and robustness, being a direct, non-iterative solution. Current technology is geared to the fastest possible implementation of FBP which includes the use of specialised hardware and array processors. It is the high cost and narrow specification of these machines that has promoted this investigation of the suitability of a transputer array implementation. In this paper, a parallel implementation of the FBP algorithm is proposed and an assessment of its viability is presented