NPRE 435: Radiological Imaging
Fall, 2026
Course
Description
This course is designed to
introduce the physical, mathematical, and experimental foundation of
radiological image techniques and their applications in diagnostic radiology
and nuclear security. During the first half of the course, we will discuss
linear system theory and tomographic image processing techniques; radiation
sources for diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy; the interaction of ionizing
radiation with imaging sensor technologies; and image formation techniques. The
second half of the course will focus on the standard radiological imaging
modalities, including X-ray computed tomography (CT), single-photon emission
computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and their
applications in clinical radiology and radiation therapy. We will also discuss
several emerging radiological imaging techniques that explore complex nuclear
physics phenomena, such as the temporal and angular correlation of X-ray and
gamma-ray emissions, positronium lifetime, and quantum entanglement of
annihilation photons.
Teaching
Staff and Office Hours
Instructor: Ling-Jian Meng, Ph.D. E-mail: ljmeng@illinois.edu;
Office: 111E Talbot Lab; Tel: 217-3337710.
Office hours: 3-5 pm on Friday. Please feel free to come to my office
during regular hours or email me to schedule an appointment.
Lecture Time and Place
MWF 2:00 pm -
2:50 pm; 111K Talbot Lab.
Prerequisites
Unofficially: radiation interactions, basic principles of
radiation detectors, probability and random variables, complex numbers, linear
algebra, MATLAB.
Textbook
Required textbooks
[1]
Medical Imaging Signals and Systems (2nd Edition), J. Prince and J. M. Links, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012.
Chapters 1-3, Chapters 4-6.
Reference
[1]
Foundations of Medical Imaging, Z. H. Cho, John Wiley & Sons, 1993.
[2] Radiation
Detection and Measurements, Third Edition, G. F. Knoll, John Wiley & Sons,
1999.
Course Website
Course website:
https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/npre435/
Lecture Notes (will be
posted after each lecture)
Introduction to Radiological Imaging.
Chapter 1: Mathematical Preliminaries for Radiological
Imaging
§ Signals and systems:
Reading Material: Chapter 2 in Ref. book [1].
§ Fourier transform basics and sampling theory: Reading
Material: Chapter 2 in Ref. book [1] and Chapter 2 in Ref. book [2].
§ Analytical Image Reconstruction Methods (1): Radon Transform
& Central Slice Theorem: Reading: Chapter 3 in Ref. book [1]. Chapter 6
(Pages 192-207) in Ref. book [2]
§ Analytical Image Reconstruction Methods (2):
Back-projection-based reconstruction methods
§ Iterative Image Reconstruction Methods: please also see
the attached paper by Shepp and Vardi on the MLEM algorithm.
§ Image Quality: Reading Material: Chapter 3 in Ref. book
[2].
Chapter 2: Introduction to Physical Principles in
Radiological Imaging
§ Typical radiation sources for radiological imaging and radiation
therapy. Reading Material: Chapter 1 in Ref. book [3].
§ Spatial, spectral, and temporal
characteristics of X-ray and gamma-ray emissions. Reading Material: Chapter 2
in Ref. book [3].
§ Interactions of ionizing radiation with matter.
Chapter 3: X-ray Radiography and Computed Tomography
§
Basic principles, current implementations,
and future trends of X-ray generators. Reading Material: Chapters 4 & 5 in
Ref. book [2]
§
X-ray imaging sensors. Reading Material:
Chapters 4 & 5 in Ref. book [2]
§
Planar radiography and X-Ray computed
tomography (CT). Reading Material: Chapters 4 & 5 in Ref. book [2]
§
Neutron and charged-particle transmission CT.
Reading Material: Chapter 6 in Ref. book [2].
Chapter 4: Emission Tomography I: Standard
Modalities for Diagnostic Radiology
§ Gamma-ray imaging sensor technologies
§ Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
§ Positron emission tomography (PET)
Chapter 5: Emission Tomography II: Emerging
Imaging Technologies
§ Positronium lifetime tomography
§ Imaging techniques exploring the
spatial-spectral-temporal correlations of gamma-ray emissions
§ Imaging techniques exploring the quantum entanglement of
annihilation gamma-rays
Homework (will be posted
after each Monday’s lecture)
Homework 1. TBA.
Term Project
TBA.
Mid-term Exam
Information
TBA.
Final Exam Information
TBA.
Grading
Homework 40%
Term Project: 20%
Midterm and Final exams: 40%