title: Modeling Shift-Variant X-Ray Focal Spot Blur for High-Resolution Flat-Panel Cone-Beam CT.
abstract: Flat-panel cone-beam CT (CBCT) has been applied clinically in a number of high-resolution applications. Increasing geometric magnification can potentially improve resolution, but also increases blur due to an extended x-ray focal-spot. We present a shift-variant focal-spot blur model and incorporate it into a model-based iterative-reconstruction algorithm. We apply this algorithm to simulation and CBCT test-bench data. In a trabecular bone simulation study, we find traditional reconstruction approaches without a blur model exhibit shift-variant resolution properties that depend greatly on the acquisition protocol (e.g. short vs. full scans) and the anode angles of the rays used to reconstruct a particular region. For physical CBCT experiments focal spot blur was characterized and a spatial resolution phantom was scanned and reconstructed. In both experiments image quality using the shift-variant model was significantly improved over approaches that modeled no blur or only a shift-invariant blur, suggesting a potential means to overcome traditional CBCT spatial resolution and system design limitations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tilley
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zbijewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Jeffrey H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Siewerdsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: J Webster
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Stayman