Iterative image reconstruction for limited-angle inverse helical cone-beam computed tomography.

Helical trajectory satisfying the condition of exact reconstruction, has been widely utilized in the commercial computed tomography (CT). While limited by the scanning environment in some practical applications, the conventional helical cone-beam CT imaging is hard to complete, thus, developing an imaging system suited for long-object may be valuable. Three-dimensional C-arm CT is an innovative imaging technique which has been greatly concerned. Since there is a high degree of freedom of C-arm, more flexible image acquisition trajectories for 3D imaging can be achieved. In this work, a fast iterative reconstruction algorithm based on total variation minimization is developed for a trajectory of limited-angle inverse helical cone-beam CT, which can be applied to detect long-object without slip-ring technology. The experimental results show that the developed algorithm can yield reconstructed images of low noise level and high image quality. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.