A comparison of algebraic reconstruction techniques for a single-detector muon computed tomography system

Abstract

An attenuation-based muon computed tomography algorithm has been developed to enable imaging of large infrastructure using measurements from a single muon tracking module. The performance of the algorithm depends on the choice of reconstruction technique that is incorporated, and is evaluated for seven different reconstruction techniques from the computed tomography literature. The L1-Norm reconstruction technique proposed by Kudo et al. is found to provide the best overall performance. The least-squares conjugate gradient (LSCG) technique and the Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) are also capable of identifying special nuclear materials, but typically display higher levels of reconstruction artifacts in comparison with L1-Norm. A muon-tomography reconstruction of a simplified simulated reactor core using the L1-Norm algorithm is able to accurately reproduce the geometry, including the identification of missing fuel channels.