• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.295-302
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• 2022

Sparse-view computed tomography (CT) imaging technique is able to reduce radiation dose, ensure the uniformity of image characteristics among projections and suppress noise. However, the reconstructed images obtained by the sparse-view CT imaging technique suffer from severe artifacts, resulting in the distortion of image quality and internal structures. In this study, we proposed a convolutional neural network (CNN) with wavelet transformation and residual learning for reducing artifacts in sparse-view CT image, and the performance of the trained model was quantitatively analyzed. The CNN consisted of wavelet transformation, convolutional and inverse wavelet transformation layers, and input and output images were configured as sparse-view CT images and residual images, respectively. For training the CNN, the loss function was calculated by using mean squared error (MSE), and the Adam function was used as an optimizer. Result images were obtained by subtracting the residual images, which were predicted by the trained model, from sparse-view CT images. The quantitative accuracy of the result images were measured in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM). The results showed that the trained model is able to improve the spatial resolution of the result images as well as reduce artifacts in sparse-view CT images effectively. Also, the trained model increased the PSNR and SSIM by 8.18% and 19.71% in comparison to the imaging model trained without wavelet transformation and residual learning, respectively. Therefore, the imaging model proposed in this study can restore the image quality of sparse-view CT image by reducing artifacts, improving spatial resolution and quantitative accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.7
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• pp.655-661
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• 2017

Sparse view CT has been widely used to reduce radiation dose to patient in radiation therapy. In this work, we performed sinogram restoration from sparse sampling data by using inpainting method for simulation and experiment. Sinogram restoration was performed in accordance with sampling angle and restoration method, and their results were validated with root mean square error (RMSE) and image profiles. Simulation and experiment are designed to fan beam scan for various projection angles. Sparse data in sinogram were restored by using linear interpolation and inpainting method. Then, the restored sinogram was reconstructed with filtered backprojection (FBP) algorithm. The results showed that RMSE and image profiles were depended on the projection angles and restoration method. Based on the simulation and experiment, we found that inpainting method could be improved for sinogram restoration in comparison to linear interpolation method for estimating RMSE and image profiles.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.377-384
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• 2023

In this study, the image quality assessment, especially spatial resolution evaluation, for Sparse-view CT reconstructed images was performed. The main goal of the experiment is to evaluate Modulation Transfer Function by using American Standard Method for Measurement of Computed Tomography System Performance(ASTM E1695-95) which uses the edge test object. To compare with the ASTM method, a different method, the radial-type edge profile, to measure MTF using the edge method also performed. Both approaches were tested on the same image acquired by the stationary-gantry sparse-view CT security-screening system using cylindrical test phantom manufactured in accordance with ANSI 42.45. Both of the spatial resolutions at 10% modulation are 0.195, 0.203lp pixel^-1, respectively. The method implemented by ASTM E1695-95 showed higher reliability and had a relatively more accurate spatial resolution result than the radial-type edge profile method.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.257-263
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• 2011

Sparse-view CT imaging is considered to be a solution to reduce x-ray dose of CT. Sparse-view CT imaging may have severe streak artifacts that could compromise the image qualities. We have compared quality of sparseview images reconstructed with two representative iterative reconstruction techniques, SIRT and TV-minimization, in terms of image error and edge preservation. In the comparison study, we have used the Shepp-Logan phantom image and real CT images obtained with a micro-CT. In both phantom image and real CT image tests, TV-minimization technique shows the best performance in error reduction and preserving edges. However, the excessive computation time of TV-minimization is a technical challenge for the practical use.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.1251-1258
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• 2015

We investigate an image recovery method for sparse-view computed tomography (CT) using an iterative shrinkage algorithm based on a second-order approach. The two-step iterative shrinkage-thresholding (TwIST) algorithm including a total variation regularization technique is elucidated to be more robust than other first-order methods; it enables a perfect restoration of an original image even if given only a few projection views of a parallel-beam geometry. We find that the incoherency of a projection system matrix in CT geometry sufficiently satisfies the exact reconstruction principle even when the matrix itself has a large condition number. Image reconstruction from fan-beam CT can be well carried out, but the retrieval performance is very low when compared to a parallel-beam geometry. This is considered to be due to the matrix complexity of the projection geometry. We also evaluate the image retrieval performance of the TwIST algorithm -sing measured projection data.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.132-141
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• 2014

In an ordinary CT scan, a large number of projections with full field-of-view (FFOV) are necessary to reconstruct high resolution images. However, excessive x-ray dosage is a great concern in FFOV scan. Region-of-interest (ROI) CT or sparse-view CT is considered to be a solution to reduce x-ray dosage in CT scanning, but it suffers from bright-band artifacts or streak artifacts giving contrast anomaly in the reconstructed image. In this study, we propose an image reconstruction method to eliminate the bright-band artifacts and the streak artifacts simultaneously. In addition to the ROI scan for the interior projection data with relatively high sampling rate in the view direction, we get sparse-view exterior projection data with much lower sampling rate. Then, we reconstruct images by solving a constrained total variation (TV) minimization problem for the interior projection data, which is assisted by the exterior projection data in the compressed sensing (CS) framework. For the interior image reconstruction assisted by the exterior projection data, we implemented the proposed method which enforces dual data fidelity terms and a TV term. The proposed method has effectively suppressed the bright-band artifacts around the ROI boundary and the streak artifacts in the ROI image. We expect the proposed method can be used for low-dose CT scans based on limited x-ray exposure to a small ROI in the human body.