Convergence studies on iterative algorithms for image reconstruction.

We introduce a general iterative scheme for image reconstruction based on Landweber's method. In our configuration, a sequential block-iterative (SeqBI) version can be readily formulated from a simultaneous block-iterative (SimBI) version, and vice versa. This provides a mechanism to derive new algorithms from known ones. It is shown that some widely used iterative algorithms, such as the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART), simultaneous ART (SART), Cimmino's, and the recently designed diagonal weighting and component averaging algorithms, are special examples of the general scheme. We prove convergence of the general scheme under conditions more general than assumed in earlier studies, for its SeqBI and SimBI versions in the consistent and inconsistent cases, respectively. Our results suggest automatic relaxation strategies for the SeqBI and SimBI versions and characterize the dependence of the limit image on the initial guess. It is found that in all cases the limit is the sum of the minimum norm solution of a weighted least-squares problem and an oblique projection of the initial image onto the null space of the system matrix.