A method for material decomposition and quantification with grating based phase CT

Material decomposition (MD) is an important application of computer tomography (CT). For phase contrast imaging, conventional MD methods are categorized into two types with respect to different operation sequences, i.e., “before” or “after” image reconstruction. Both categories come down to two-step methods, which have the problem of noise amplification. In this study, we incorporate both phase and absorption (PA) information into MD process, and correspondingly develop a simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART). The proposed method is referred to as phase & absorption material decomposition-SART (PAMD-SART). By iteratively solving an optimization problem, material composition and substance quantification are reconstructed directly from absorption and differential phase projections. Comparing with two-step MD, the proposed one-step method is superior in noise suppression and accurate decomposition. Numerical simulations and synchrotron radiation based experiments show that PAMD-SART outperforms the classical MD method (image-based and dual-energy CT iterative method), especially for the quantitative accuracy of material equivalent atomic number.

Guided image filtering based ℓ0 gradient minimization for limited-angle CT image reconstruction

Limited-angle computed tomography (CT) reconstruction problem arises in some practical applications due to restrictions in the scanning environment or CT imaging device. Some artifacts will be presented in image reconstructed by conventional analytical algorithms. Although some regularization strategies have been proposed to suppress the artifacts, such as total variation (TV) minimization, there is still distortion in some edge portions of image. Guided image filtering (GIF) has the advantage of smoothing the image as well as preserving the edge. To further improve the image quality and protect the edge of image, we propose a coupling method, that combines ℓ 0 {\ell_{0}} gradient minimization and GIF. An intermediate result obtained by ℓ 0 {\ell_{0}} gradient minimization is regarded as a guidance image of GIF, then GIF is used to filter the result reconstructed by simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) with nonnegative constraint. It should be stressed that the guidance image is dynamically updated as the iteration process, which can transfer the edge to the filtered image. Some simulation and real data experiments are used to evaluate the proposed method. Experimental results show that our method owns some advantages in suppressing the artifacts of limited angle CT and in preserving the edge of image.

l1/2 regularization for wavelet frames based few-view CT reconstruction

Reducing the radiation exposure in computed tomography (CT) is always a significant research topic in radiology. Image reconstruction from few-view projection is a reasonable and effective way to decrease the number of rays to lower the radiation exposure. But how to maintain high image reconstruction quality while reducing radiation exposure is a major challenge. To solve this problem, several researchers are absorbed in l0 or l1 regularization based optimization models to deal with it. However, the solution of l1 regularization based optimization model is not sparser than that of l1/2 or l0 regularization, and solving the l0 regularization is more difficult than solving the l1/2 regularization. In this paper, we develop l1/2 regularization for wavelet frames based image reconstruction model to research the few-view problem. First, the existence of the solution of the corresponding model is demonstrated. Second, an alternate direction method (ADM) is utilized to separate the original problem into two subproblems, where the former subproblem about the image is solved using the idea of the proximal mapping, the simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) and the projection and contraction (PC) algorithm, and the later subproblem about the wavelet coefficients is solved using the half thresholding (HT) algorithm. Furthermore, the convergence analysis of our method is given by the simulated implementions. Simulated and real experiments confirm the effectiveness of our method.

Quantitative three-dimensional nondestructive imaging of whole anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria

Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria play a key role in the global nitrogen cycle and the treatment of nitrogenous wastewater. These functions are closely related to the unique biophysical structure of anammox bacteria. However, the research on the biophysical ultrastructure of intact anammox bacteria is lacking. In this study, in-situ three-dimensional nondestructive ultrastructure imaging of whole anammox cell was performed using synchrotron soft X-ray nano-computed tomography and the total variation-based simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (TV-SART). Statistical and quantitative analyses of the ultrastructures of intact anammox bacteria were performed. The linear absorption coefficient values of the ultrastructures of anammox bacteria were calculated and the asymmetric structure of the anammox bacteria was quantified. On this basis, the shape adaptation of the anammox bacteria responses to Fe2+ were explored, and the underlying regulation mechanism of Fe2+ on anammox bacteria was explored. Furthermore, a promising method to study the biophysical properties of cells in different environments and engineering processes was proposed.Graphical AbstractStatement of SignificanceAnaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria play key role in global nitrogen cycle, and this physiological function depends on the unique morphology of anammox bacteria. In this study, synchrotron soft-X ray imaging technique coupled with simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique with total variation (SART-TV) algorithm were performed to quantify the three-dimensional ultrastructure of the whole anammox bacteria for the first time. On this basis, the shape adaptation and mechanism of the anammox bacteria responses to Fe2+ were explored and a promising method for detecting the physiological properties of anammox bacteria was proposed.

X-ray topo-tomography studies of linear dislocations in silicon single crystals

This article describes complete characterization of the polygonal dislocation half-loops (PDHLs) introduced by scratching and subsequent bending of an Si(111) crystal. The study is based on the X-ray topo-tomography technique using both a conventional laboratory setup and the high-resolution X-ray image-detecting systems at the synchrotron facilities at KIT (Germany) and ESRF (France). Numerical analysis of PDHL images is performed using the Takagi–Taupin equations and the simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) tomographic algorithm.