Preface

This tutorial text introduces the classical and modern image reconstruction technologies to the general audience. It covers the topics in two-dimensional (2D) parallel-beam and fan-beam imaging, three-dimensional (3D) parallel ray, parallel plane, and cone-beam imaging. Both analytical and iterative methods are presented. The applications in X-ray CT, SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography), PET (positron emission tomography), and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) are also discussed. Contemporary research results in exact ROI (region-of-interest) reconstruction with truncated projections, Katsevich’s cone-beam filtered backprojection algorithm, and reconstruction with highly undersampled data are also included in this book.

The last chapter of the book is devoted to the techniques of using a fast analytical FBP (filtered backprojection) algorithm to emulate an iterative reconstruction with an edge-preserving denoising constraint. These techniques are the author’s most recent research results and they produced some patient CT images leading to the third place winner of the 2016 Low-Dose CT Grand Challenge.

This book is written in an easy-to-read style. The readers who intend to get into medical image reconstruction will gain the general knowledge of the field in a painless way. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing (and drawing) it.

Larry Zeng, Ph.D. ([email protected], [email protected])
Associate Professor of Engineering, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, USA
Adjunct Professor of Radiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

August 8, 2016, in Salt Lake City