Robust residual-guided iterative reconstruction for sparse-view CT in small animal imaging

Jianru Zhang, Zhe Wang, Tuoyu Cao, Guohua Cao*, Wuwei Ren*, Jiahua Jiang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Objective. We introduce a robust image reconstruction algorithm named residual-guided Golub–Kahan iterative reconstruction technique (RGIRT) designed for sparse-view computed tomography (CT), which aims at high-fidelity image reconstruction from a limited number of projection views.

Approach. RGIRT utilizes an inner-outer dual iteration framework, with a flexible least square QR (FLSQR) algorithm implemented in the inner iteration and a restarted iterative scheme applied in the outer iteration. The inner FLSQR employs a flexible Golub–Kahan bidiagonalization method to reduce the size of the inverse problem, and a weighted generalized cross-validation method to adaptively estimate the regularization hyper-parameter. The inner iteration efficiently yields the intermediate reconstruction result, while the outer iteration minimizes the residual and refines the solution by using the result obtained from the inner iteration.

Main results. The reconstruction performance of RGIRT is evaluated and compared to other reference methods (FBPConvNet, SART-TV, and FLSQR) using projection data from both numerical phantoms and real experimental Micro-CT data. The experimental findings, from testing various numbers of projection views and different noise levels, underscore the robustness of RGIRT. Meanwhile, theoretical analysis confirms the convergence of residual for our approach.

Significance. We propose a robust iterative reconstruction algorithm for x-ray CT scans with sparse views, thereby shortening scanning time and mitigating excessive ionizing radiation exposure to small animals.
Original languageEnglish
Article number105010
Number of pages18
JournalPhysics in Medicine & Biology
Volume69
Issue number10
Early online date29 Apr 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 May 2024

Keywords

  • regularization
  • inverse problem
  • Golub–Kahan process
  • sparse-view CT
  • image reconstruction

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