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Medical Imaging Solutions from Texas Instruments

Design Considerations
Selection and Solution Guides
Tools and Software

Product Bulletin & White Papers
News Releases & Authored Articles
Similar End-Equipment Solutions

Application Notes
Reference Designs
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Design Considerations

Computed tomography (CT) is a medical imaging technique that produces three-dimensional images of internal human body parts from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation. When compared with a conventional X-ray radiograph, which is an image of many planes superimposed on each other, a CT image exhibits significantly improved contrast.

With the advent of diagnostic imaging systems like CT, where complex and intensive image processing is required, semiconductors play a very important role in developing systems with increased density, flexibility and high performance.

X-ray slice data is generated using an X-ray source that rotates around the object with X-ray detectors positioned on the opposite side of the circle from the X-ray source. The whole rotating structure is called gantry and every x-ray shot from a given angle is called profile. Of the order of 1000 profiles per revolution are taken progressively as the object is gradually passed through the gantry. The data acquisition system usually consists of a number of channel cards that have an array of scintillator-photodiode solid state detectors follow by the readout electronics.

Each photodiode produces a current proportional to the x-ray intensity that the pixel receives. Traditionally, the channel card has a front-end where the current from the detector is integrated and converted to digital values by ADCs. TI’s DDC products are single-chip solutions for Directly Digitizing low-level Currents from photodiode arrays in CT scanners. Each DDC channel provides a dual switched integrator front-end to process the current coming from one photodiode. This configuration allows for continuous current integration (avoiding any input signal loss): while one integrator output is being digitized by the on board A/D converter, the other is integrating the input current.

The digital data from all channel cards is transferred by high-speed link (LVDS interface) to the controller card and onto the image conditioning cards. The image conditioning card is connected to the host computer where the CT images can be viewed. Here, the digital data are combined by the mathematical procedure known as tomographic reconstruction.

Within the controller cards, TI DSPs with advanced VelociTI™, very-long-instruction-word (VLIW) architecture developed by Texas Instruments (TI), are an excellent choice for medical imaging applications. DSPs can be used to provide accurate control of the gantry rotation, the movement of the table (up/down and in/out), tilting of the gantry for angled images, and other functions such as turning the X-ray beam on and off. Another important DSP control functionality is ECG gating used to reduce motion artifacts caused by heart movement. Here, the data acquisition is carefully synchronized with the heartbeat. For interfacing with a PC, gigabit Ethernet transceivers allow for high-speed full-duplex point-to-point data transmissions. The PCI Express™ PHY interfaces the PCI Express Media Access Layer (MAC) to a PCI Express serial link.

The CT Scanner application may have ultra-fast transient requirements for high performance DSP and/or FPGAs, where TI’s high-performance non-isolated power modules are well suited. If high PSRR, fast start-up, and low noise are concerns, low-dropout (LDO) linear regulators are available. TI’s portfolio includes voltage supervisors, DC/DC converters, power modules, and LDOs that allows complete flexibility for the user to configure a power solution that meets the sequencing requirements for the system.

Recommended Resources

Medical Imaging Brochure

Medical Imaging Brief

Application Notes (6)

Title	Abstract	Type	Size (KB)	Date	Views
A Glossary of Analog-to-Digital Specifications and Performance Characteristics (Rev. B)		PDF	425 KB	09 Oct 2011	77661
Using TI's Embedded Processor Software Toolkit for Medical Imaging (MED-STK)	Read Abstract	HTM	9 KB	08 Jun 2010	965
Implementation of Affine Warp Using TI DSP	Read Abstract	HTM	8 KB	08 Jun 2010	495
Multicore Programming Guide (Rev. A)	Read Abstract	HTM	8 KB	30 Sep 2009	3085
EEPROM Emulation With the TMS320F28xxx DSCs	Read Abstract	HTM	9 KB	21 Sep 2009	3142
Implementing DDR2 PCB Layout on the TMS320C6452 DMSoC (Rev. A)	Read Abstract	HTM	9 KB	25 Mar 2008	366

Reference Designs

Description	Part #	Company
CC1101EM 315 and 433MHz Reference Design	CC1101EM433_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC1101EM 868 and 915MHz Reference Design	CC1101EM868-915_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC1110EM 315MHz Reference Design	CC1110EM315_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC1110EM 433MHz Reference Design	CC1110EM433_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC1111 USB Dongle Reference Design	CC1111USB_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2430 Anaren Balun Reference Design	CC2430BALUN_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2430-CC2591EM Reference Design	CC2430-CC2591EM_RD	Texas Instruments
CC2430DB Reference Design	CC2430DB_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2430EM Discrete Reference Design	CC2430EM_DISCRETE_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2430EM Reference Design	CC2430EM_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2500 Reference Design (62 mil layer spacing)	CC2500_REFDES_062	Texas Instruments
CC2500EM Reference Design	CC2500EM_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2511 USB Nano Dongle Reference Design	CC2511NANO_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2511 USB-Dongle Reference Design	CC2511USB_REFDES	Texas Instruments
CC2520EM Reference Design	CC2520EM_REFDES	Texas Instruments

Selection and Solution Guides

Selection Guides (2)

Title	Abstract	Type	Size (KB)	Date	Views
Medical Applications Guide 2010 (Rev. E)		PDF	11.6 MB	05 Aug 2010	6555
Texas Instruments Embedded Processors for Medical Imaging (Rev. B)		PDF	2.38 MB	08 Jun 2010	2176

Tools and Software

Name	Part #	Company	Software/Tool Type
C6452 DSP Evaluation Module	TMDXEVM6452	Texas Instruments	Development Boards/EVMs
Code Composer Studio (CCStudio) Integrated Development Environment (IDE) v5	CCSTUDIO	Texas Instruments	Code Composer Studio(TM) IDE
TMS320C6455 Evaluation Module	TMDXEVM6455	Texas Instruments	Development Boards/EVMs

Product Bulletin & White Papers

Product Bulletin (2)

Title	Abstract	Type	Size (MB)	Date	Views
TMS320C6670 Breakthrough Performance for Process-Intensive Applications (Rev. B)		PDF	228 KB	09 Jun 2011	1323
TMS320C6671/72/74/78 High-Performance Multicore Fixed- and Floating-Point DSPs (Rev. B)		PDF	208 KB	25 Apr 2011	3909

White Papers (14)

Title	Type	Size (MB)	Date	Views
Maximizing Multicore Efficiency with Navigator Runtime	PDF	914 KB	23 Feb 2012	1158
An overview of TI's Multicore Software Development Kit (Rev. A)	PDF	1014 KB	17 May 2011	2287
KeyStone Memory Architecture White Paper (Rev. A)	PDF	562 KB	21 Dec 2010	1360
TI's new C66x Fixed- and Floating-Point DSP Core Conquers the 'Need for Speed'	PDF	423 KB	09 Nov 2010	1099
Enabling Small Cells With TI's New Multicore System-on-Chip Architecture	PDF	5.27 MB	20 Jun 2010	1013
Multicore processors bring innovation to portable medical imaging systems	PDF	333 KB	08 Jun 2010	889
Accelerating the advancement of medical imaging	PDF	358 KB	18 Mar 2009	36
The future of medical imaging	PDF	115 KB	03 Nov 2008	819
See the difference:DSPs in medical imaging	PDF	187 KB	31 Oct 2008	875
Push Performance and Power Beyond the Data Sheet White Paper	PDF	80 KB	17 Jul 2007	424
Fixed vs. Floating Point white paper	PDF	66 KB	24 Aug 2004	1181
Chasing Moore's Law with 90-nm: More Than Just a Process Shrink	PDF	107 KB	07 Jan 2004	654
The Future of DSP	PDF	70 KB	01 May 2003	8
Comparing Apples, Oranges and Gigahertz: Why is a DSP Gigahertz so Special?	PDF	89 KB	01 May 2003	10

News Releases & Authored Articles

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Support and Community

Training & Events

Name	Type	Available During
Multicore Software Development Kit (MCSDK) Online Training This self-paced training course provides an introduction to the various components that make up the C66x KeyStone devices.	On-Line Training	On Demand
Texas Instruments' Training Lab - ARM Tech Conference 2010 This self-paced training course provides an introduction to the various components that make up the C66x KeyStone devices.	On-Line Training	On Demand
TI's C553x DSPs - industry's lowest price and lowest power DSPs TI's breakthrough price for DSPS extends sophisticated signal processing and ultra-low-power into new world of cost-sensitive apps	On-Line Training	On Demand
C66x Multicore SOC Online Training for KeyStone Devices This self-paced training course provides an introduction to the various components that make up the C66x KeyStone devices	On-Line Training	On Demand
Sensor Signal Conditioning and Interface for Medical Explore the various sensor interface techniques and solutions available for medical applications.	On-Line Training	On Demand

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