(FT) The Fourier transformation is a mathematical procedure to separate out the frequency components of a signal from its amplitudes as a function of time, or the inverse Fourier transformation (IFT) calculates the time domain from the frequency domain. Fourier transformation analysis allows spatial information to be reconstructed from the raw data.

Convolution is an important mathematical technique in digital signal processing. Raw data undergo spatial filtration prior to back projection by combining two signals to form a third signal. Convolution is related to the input signal, the output signal, and the impulse response. This operation is mostly used together with Fourier transformations for CT signal and image processing.

An integral is a mathematical object that can be interpreted as an area or a generalization of an area. A number computed by a limiting process in which the domain of a function, often an interval or planar region, is divided into arbitrarily small units, the value of the function at a point in each unit is multiplied by the linear or areal measurement of that unit, and all such products are summed (summation in the limit). In CT, for example this mathematical function is used in the Fourier transformation.

A real number is a component of a complex number. In CT, complex data are used for example in the Fourier transforms.