The use of deblurring technique for improving the longitudinal resolution in helical CT of the head and neck region.

We evaluated the use of deblurring technique by digital deconvolution for improving the longitudinal resolution in helical CT in a phantom and CT images of head and neck patients. After performing the helical scanning, overlapped axial images were reconstructed at 1/10 of the actual collimation. Then, the deblurring technique was performed. Results revealed that the resolution of slice profiles was improved after deblurring. Further, the longitudinal resolution increased as the strength of the deconvolution increased, at the expense of an increase in helical artifacts. The sharpness and visualization of horizontally running structures were improved in the reconstructed MPR, MPVR, MIP and 3D images in both the phantom and the images of all patients. Also, visualization of the peripheral vessels in CTAs was improved.