SNARK09 - a software package for reconstruction of 2D images from 1D projections.

The problem of reconstruction of slices and volumes from 1D and 2D projections has arisen in a large number of scientific fields (including computerized tomography, electron microscopy, X-ray microscopy, radiology, radio astronomy and holography). Many different methods (algorithms) have been suggested for its solution. In this paper we present a software package, SNARK09, for reconstruction of 2D images from their 1D projections. In the area of image reconstruction, researchers often desire to compare two or more reconstruction techniques and assess their relative merits. SNARK09 provides a uniform framework to implement algorithms and evaluate their performance. It has been designed to treat both parallel and divergent projection geometries and can either create test data (with or without noise) for use by reconstruction algorithms or use data collected by another software or a physical device. A number of frequently-used classical reconstruction algorithms are incorporated. The package provides a means for easy incorporation of new algorithms for their testing, comparison and evaluation. It comes with tools for statistical analysis of the results and ten worked examples.