NOW based parallel reconstruction of functional images

This paper deals with the parallel implementation of reconstruction algorithms for functional imaging on a network of workstations (NOW). Algorithms which provide the best image quality are not used in clinical routine, because they have a runtime of up to 60 hours with real clinical data sets of several hundred megabytes. After giving an overview of currently used image reconstruction algorithms, we describe a general parallel implementation of these algorithms with almost linear speedup and high efficiency which cuts down the runtime to a feasible limit. The high load which is caused by the parallel application conflicts with the predominantly interactive usage of clinical workstations, therefore we address load balancing with an application oriented, adaptive mechanism in order to preserve the ownership of workstations. Furthermore we explain how the integration of MATLAB and IDL based applications with a conventional distributed queuing system (DQS) can be achieved and why this significantly improves usage in clinical routine.