System and method of bolus-chasing angiography with adaptive real-time computed tomography (CT)

The present invention is directed towards a system and method for optimization of contrast enhancement utilizing a bolus propagation model, a computerized predictor of the bolus position, and a real-time tomographic imaging system with an adaptive mechanism to move a patient and/or the imaging components. The system and method can be applied to X-ray CT angiography that relies on bolus peak prediction, real-time CT observation and adaptive table translation. In particular, the discrepancy between the bolus location predicted by a bolus propagation model and the real-time CT measurement is reconciled via a computerized predictor such as a linear extrpolator or a Kalman filter and fed into an adaptive table transport system to drive the table to chase the contrast bolus accordingly.