Abstract
The accuracy of iteratively reconstructed SPECT images improves when better models of the image formation process are used. To assess effects of improved scatter modeling, a projector back-projector (proback) architecture has been developed which can compensate for attenuation, distance dependent collimator blur and anatomy dependent scatter, at different levels of accuracy. A expectation maximization (EM) algorithm acting on ordered subsets (OS-EM) of projection images is used to evaluate effects of different image formation models (2D, 2D/3D, fully 3D with and without scatter compensation) on accuracy and reconstruction time. Results have been obtained on (i) measurements of a cylinder containing regions with different activity levels, and on (ii) simulation of a 99m Tc brain study. It is shown that the simpler the image formation model used, the faster but less accurate the reconstruction is.
An important aspect of the present evaluation study is the effect of 3D post-reconstruction filtering. Every iterative reconstruction method requires regularization, whose optimal parameters depend on (i) the true activity distribution imaged, (ii) the imager characteristics, (iii) acquisition and reconstruction algorithm parameters, and (iv) the task which has to be performed on the image, for example by an observer or a quantitation program. A supervised method to estimate the widths (in transaxial plane and perpendicular to that plane) of a 3D Gaussian filter kernel was developed. We show that the squared error (SE) for several probacks is reduced by optimal (i.e, minimum SE) filtering, and that, for the scatter compensating probacks, the optimum is stabilized at high iteration numbers.
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Beekman, F.J., Viergever, M.A. (1996). Evaluation of Fully 3D Iterative Scatter Compensation and Post-Reconstruction Filtering In SPECT. In: Grangeat, P., Amans, JL. (eds) Three-Dimensional Image Reconstruction in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Computational Imaging and Vision, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8749-5_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8749-5_12
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