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Lack of access to projection data from patient CT scans is a major limitation for the development and validation of new CT reconstruction algorithms. However, patient projection data acquired using commercial CT scanners are stored in a proprietary format, requiring investigators to have research agreements in place with the CT manufacturer to be able to read the data correctly. These proprietary data formats for projection data, making make it unlikely that investigators will be able to validate their algorithm on data from more than one manufacturer.

To meet this critical need, researchers at the Mayo Clinic, with funding from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (EB 017095, EB 017185), have built a library of CT patient projection data in an open and vendor-neutral format. This format, referred to as DICOM-CT-PD, is an extended DICOM format that contains CT projection data and acquisition geometry. The de-identified patient projection data in the library were decoded with help of the manufacturer and have been converted into an open and standard format.