Dr. Stefan Popescu - Fast Data Transfer in Multi-slice Computed Tomographs
The Computed Tomography (CT) looks back on a success story spanning 35 years. Since 1974, when Siemens became the world’s first manufacturer of medical technology to bring the first computer tomographs onto the market, the technology has been developing rapidly. The imaging systems’ performance has been constantly improving, and the speed with which these systems rotate around the patient has been increasing. What’s more, CTs of the latest generation feature an additional imaging system that results in shorter imaging times and makes organ-specific examinations possible. This technological leap has opened up entirely new areas of application in medicine. In this broad spectrum of technology, Dr. Stefan Popescu, 49, has made important contributions to innovation in CT and its applications. Since coming to Siemens in 1999 he has 78 inventions to his credit, which have resulted in 74 IPR families that in turn have already led to 63 granted individual patents.
One such invention is the concept for high data transfer rates via a high-capacity slip ring system. In the development of fast-rotating multi-slice Computed Tomography, this technology made it possible to, among other things, transfer the image data from the rotating to the stationary part of the CT for further processing at a sufficiently high speed. This path was the data transfer bottleneck that Popescu wanted to overcome. “Above 16 slices it became impossible to transfer the data in real time,” recalls Popescu.
Siemens has been the trendsetter in Computed Tomography right from the start, and wanted to be the first manufacturer to achieve the increase from four to 16-slice images. Popescu worked intensively on a new transfer path. “When the rotation times of multi-slice CTs dropped to less than one-half of a second, there was an explosive increase in the speed of data transfer, to several times the previous rate,” explains Popescu.
The challenge was to achieve a data transfer rate of several gigabits per second, because CTs with more than six slices displayed an unacceptably steep decline in transfer quality. “I came up with a kind of regenerator that reliably restores the data on the transfer path to its original quality,” says Popescu. His invention has been serving as the standard in multi-slice CTs from Siemens and from all of its competitors for several years. The new rotating data-transfer path in CT scanners today can transfer the entire content of a DVD in less than five seconds.
After steadily improving CT scanners by means of his many inventions, Popescu recently turned his attention to magnetic resonance technology. On behalf of Siemens he is analyzing and evaluating the latest development trends in this field and testing new ideas to determine their suitability for use in products.
The Siemens researcher was born in Romania, where he studied medical technology. Popescu’s doctorate focused on diagnostic instruments for heart diseases. He came to Germany on a one-year fellowship from the German federal government in 1996 and worked for Siemens for the first time. After returning to the university in Bucharest he taught and conducted research on imaging systems. Popescu also worked closely with Siemens during this period. In 1999 he decided to permanently relocate to Germany and make his research skills available to Siemens.
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