Inherent limitations in ectomography

Ectomography, a general tomographic method currently being implemented in nuclear medicine, is described. The object is viewed from different directions from the same projection angle, and the reconstruction process can be described as a two-dimensional filtered back-projection technique. One limitation of this limited-angle approach is that a three-dimensional Fourier representation of the acquired projections has a cone where data are missing. This empty cone can cause distortions in the tomogram by insufficient elimination of details outside the reconstructed tomographic section and by distortion of details in the section. The degree of distortion is dependent on the extension of the object in all directions and on the projection angle. Despite these limitations ectomography can be superior to single-photon-emission computed tomography for imaging sections that are close and parallel to the surface of the object, as in imaging of the hip joint or the heart.