The image reconstruction is a crucial step in the electrical capacitance tomography. This paper presents a new methodology for improving the reconstruction accuracy. The prior image induced regularization from the deep convolutional extreme learning machine (DCELM) is introduced, which is integrated with the domain knowledge related to imaging targets to form a more effective mathematical model for reconstruction. A new numerical scheme is developed to train the DCELM more effectively. The fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding method is embedded into the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to form a new solver for the proposed imaging model. Extensive validations are implemented to evaluate the proposed imaging method. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed imaging technique outperforms the state-of-the-art reconstruction methods and produces better reconstructions. INDEX TERMS Prior image induced regularization, image reconstruction, inverse problem, deep convolutional extreme learning machine, iterative imaging method, electrical capacitance tomography. QIBIN LIU received the B.Eng. and M.Sc. degrees in engineering thermophysics from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China, in 2002 and 2005, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in engineering thermophysics from the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, in 2008. He is currently a Professor with the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. He has published more than 80 research papers. His research interests include solar energy utilization technologies, energy system integration, electrical capacitance tomography, inverse problems in engineering and science, and computational fluid dynamics.