Experimental dual-kV reconstructions of objects containing metal using the cOSSCIR algorithm

Abstract

Metal artifacts in CT reconstructions can negatively a_ect the diagnostic utility of CT imaging, as the degradation of image quality is generally not localized. One approach to addressing metal artifacts involves incorporating accurate models of the x-ray transmission into the inversion procedure. In the constrained one-step spectral CT image reconstruction method (cOSSCIR), the basis material maps are computed directly from spectral transmission measurements using a non-linear spectral model. When applied to the photon-counting problem, cOSSCIR is capable of removing artifacts due to beam hardening, noise, and photon starvation solely using an accurate model of the x-ray spectrum and detector response. In this study we investigate reconstructing experimental dual-kV data corrupted by metal, and present approaches for reducing artifacts within the framework of cOSSCIR.