Joint optimization of fluence field modulation and regularization for multi-task objectives

Abstract

This work investigates task-driven optimization of fluence field modulation (FFM) and regularization for model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) when different imaging tasks are presented by different organs. Example applications of the design framework were demonstrated in an abdomen phantom where the task of interest in the liver is a low-contrast, low-frequency detection task while that in the kidney is a high-contrast, high-frequency discrimination task. The global performance objective is based on maximizing local detectability index (d′) at a discrete set of locations. Two objective functions were formulated based on different imaging needs: 1) a maxi-min objective where all tasks are equally important, and 2) a region-of-interest (ROI) objective to maximize imaging performance in an ROI while maintaining a minimum level of performance elsewhere. The FFM pattern for the maxi-min objective is determined by the most challenging task in the liver where both angular and spatial modulation resulted in a ~35% improvement in d′ compared to an unmodulated case. The FFM for the ROI objective prescribes the most fluence to the organs of interest, boosting d′ by ~59%, but manages to achieve the minimum d′ target elsewhere. A spatially varying regularization was found to be important when tasks of different frequency content are present in different parts of the image - the optimal regularization strength for the two studied tasks differed by two orders of magnitude. Initial investigations in this work demonstrated that a multi-task objective is potentially important in shaping the optimal FFM and MBIR regularization, and that these tools may help to generalize task-based acquisition and reconstruction design for more complex diagnostic scenarios.