Nethra Imaging (Nethra) has reported that NovaRay Medical and Triple Ring Technologies (TRT) have developed a real-time X-ray imaging system using Nethra’s Am2045 Massively Parallel Processor Array (MPPA) devices.
The new system takes advantage of the scalable architecture of the Nethra devices by using 13,440 32-bit processors in parallel, contained in 40 Am2045 devices. The 40-TeraOPS system in an ATCA chassis has a sustained image reconstruction rate of 32 slices, each with 1000 x 1000 pixel resolution, every 1/20th second helping to enable up to 10 times reduction in radiation exposure.
The system will be used initially for interventional cardiology applications where precise real-time imaging is needed to guide the accurate placement of devices such as angioplasty balloons, stents, and artificial heart valves, said the companies.
The NovaRay system uses a high-speed scanning x-ray source operating in conjunction with a high-efficiency solid-state photon-counting detector array to take up to 9,000 separate views through the patient every 1/30th second.
The Nethra Am2045 MPPA device offers patented self-synchronizing channels for an unprecedented level of programmability with massive processor scalability.
Ed Solomon, CTO of NovaRay, said: “We evaluated multiple DSP and FPGA families and massively parallel processor architectures to address our challenging requirements. We were attracted to the Nethra Am2045 device for its unique combination of high-speed I/O, computational performance, scalability, low power, and cost-effective pricing.”
“Working with the Nethra support team, we were able to implement a rapid prototype of our reconstruction algorithm to verify that we could meet our throughput and performance requirements.”