Digital tomosynthesis aided by low-resolution exact computed tomography

• Published in: Journal of computer assisted tomography Vol. 31; no. 6; p. 976
• Main Authors: Zeng, Kai, Yu, Hengyong, Zhao, Shiying, Fajardo, Laurie Lee, Ruth, Christopher, Jing, Zhenxue, Wang, Ge
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.2007
• Subjects: Algorithms; Breast - anatomy & histology; Computer Simulation; Female; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods; Mammography - methods; Models, Theoretical; Phantoms, Imaging; Radiographic Image Enhancement - methods; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods
• ISSN: 0363-8715
• DOI: 10.1097/rct.0b013e31803e8c1f

Tomosynthesis reconstructs 3-dimensional images of an object from a significantly fewer number of projections as compared with that required by computed tomography (CT). A major problem with tomosynthesis is image artifacts associated with the data incompleteness. In this article, we propose a hybrid tomosynthesis approach to achieve higher image quality as compared with competing methods. In this approach, a low-resolution CT scan is followed by a high-resolution tomosynthesis scan. Then, both scans are combined to reconstruct images. To evaluate the image quality of the proposed method, we design a new breast phantom for numerical simulation and physical experiments. The results show that images obtained by our approach are clearly better than those obtained without such a CT scan.