Spatial resolution analysis of computed tomographic images.

Methods are presented for the quantification of spatial resolution in x-ray computed tomographic (CT) images. Model-dependent methods are derived and compared with model independent methods for computation of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). These techniques are applied to phantom images of point, line, edge, and ring discontinuities. The model-dependent methods utilize multiparameter fits of a two-dimensional model function to the image data. Model predictions are compared with results obtained in a model-independent way by numerical transformation of the data. Results of resolution measurements of an Imatron C-100 CT scanner at UCSF and a second experimental scanner at the UCSF Physics Research Laboratory are presented.