New calculation method for exact length weighting factor in cone‐beam computed tomography

Abstract

AbstractIn iterative reconstruction algorithms, it is very important to calculate the weighting factor quickly and accurately, which directly affects the reconstruction efficiency and accuracy of computed tomography images. In this paper, a new calculation method for accurate length weighting factor is developed. Firstly, the ray equation is determined according to the coordinates of the source and the ray's projection. Second, the intersections of the ray and the equidistant parallel planes along three coordinate axes are calculated, and the points intersecting with the reconstructed object are put into a set. Finally, when the X‐axis coordinates of all points in the set are different, the points are arranged according to their X‐axis coordinates; when the X‐axis coordinates of all points are same, the points are arranged according to their Y‐axis coordinates. The sorted point set is the intersections that the ray traverses the reconstructed object in sequence. The index and weighting factor of all voxels that the ray passes through can be determined by the sorted point set. Compared with the classical Siddon's method, it avoids the step of describing the intersections with parameters, and its calculation speed is increased by nearly 20%. The numerical simulations and real data reconstruction experiments are conducted to validate the proposed calculation method of exact length weighting factor.