A priori information in a regularized sinogram-based method for removing ring artefacts in tomography.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Image Reconstruction
• Computational Science

Background:

• Ring artifacts are a common problem in X-ray computerized tomography (CT) reconstructions.
• These artifacts degrade image quality and can obscure important diagnostic details.
• Existing methods may require complex preprocessing or multiple reconstruction steps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a new method for removing ring artifacts from CT reconstructions.
• To leverage a priori information from the sinogram for artifact correction.
• To provide an efficient and effective solution for enhancing CT image quality.

Main Methods:

• A novel ring artifact removal method is proposed, utilizing sinogram properties.
• Key information includes horizontal smoothness, row symmetry, and acquisition perturbations.
• The numerical implementation employs quadratic programming for efficient processing.

Main Results:

• The method successfully removes ring artifacts from experimental data.
• Efficacy was demonstrated on datasets of graphite and bone.
• No prior reconstruction of sinograms is needed, simplifying the workflow.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method offers an effective approach to ring artifact reduction in CT.
• It provides a valuable tool for improving the diagnostic accuracy of CT images.
• The technique is robust and applicable to various experimental materials.