Advanced CT and MR image processing with FPGA

Abstract

The CT and MRI image processing is a task with high requirement of computation time and computation speed. The calculation process in the most cases consists of various steps that are inherently parallel. There is opportunity to use parallel programming implemented in standard computer with more than one core. The more efficient way is to use real parallel signal processing. The only hardware that allows parallel data processing is FPGA. This article deals about this possibility. It is shown in the application on real problem in the image processing field. The first there is described the methodology of image processing in the application on CT (MRI) images of the head. The task is to count the ratio of intracranial fluid in the skull. It is important for child neurology diagnostic. The second part deals about the FPGA and its contribution to solving this task in the real parallel hardware system. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.