A fast 4D cone beam CT reconstruction method based on the OSC-TV algorithm

• Published in: Journal of X-ray science and technology Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 189 - 208
• Main Authors: Mascolo-Fortin, Julia, Matenine, Dmitri, Archambault, Louis, Després, Philippe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2018
• Subjects: Algorithms; Computer Simulation; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography - methods; Four-Dimensional Computed Tomography - methods; Humans; Lung - diagnostic imaging; Lung Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Phantoms, Imaging; Respiration; iterative reconstruction; multi-GPU; respiratory motion; 4D CBCT
• ISSN: 0895-3996; 1095-9114; 1095-9114
• DOI: 10.3233/XST-17289

BACKGROUND: Four-dimensional cone beam computed tomography allows for temporally resolved imaging with useful applications in radiotherapy, but raises particular challenges in terms of image quality and computation time. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this work is to develop a fast and accurate 4D algorithm by adapting a GPU-accelerated ordered subsets convex algorithm (OSC), combined with the total variation minimization regularization technique (TV). METHODS: Different initialization schemes were studied to adapt the OSC-TV algorithm to 4D reconstruction: each respiratory phase was initialized either with a 3D reconstruction or a blank image. Reconstruction algorithms were tested on a dynamic numerical phantom and on a clinical dataset. 4D iterations were implemented for a cluster of 8 GPUs. RESULTS: All developed methods allowed for an adequate visualization of the respiratory movement and compared favorably to the McKinnon-Bates and adaptive steepest descent projection onto convex sets algorithms, while the 4D reconstructions initialized from a prior 3D reconstruction led to better overall image quality. CONCLUSION: The most suitable adaptation of OSC-TV to 4D CBCT was found to be a combination of a prior FDK reconstruction and a 4D OSC-TV reconstruction with a reconstruction time of 4.5 minutes. This relatively short reconstruction time could facilitate a clinical use.