A note on stopping rules in EM-ML reconstructions of ECT images

The use of the expectation-maximization algorithm to obtain pseudo-maximum likelihood estimates (i.e. the EM-ML algorithm) of radiopharmaceutical distributions based on data collected from emission computed tomography (ECT) systems is now a well developed area, as witnessed by a number of recent articles on that topic, including the detailed study of the relative performance of EM-ML and FBP reconstructions provided in J. Llacer et al. (ibid., vol. 12, p. 215-31, 1993). However, there remains considerable confusion in the field regarding appropriate stopping rules for EM-ML algorithms, and in this correspondence the author attempts to detail a shortcoming of one of the more recent and innovative stopping rule criteria. In particular, the author discusses the effect of total photon counts on stopping criteria based on cross-validation.