A unified noise analysis for iterative image estimation

Phys Med Biol. 2003 Nov 7;48(21):3505-19. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/48/21/004.

Abstract

Iterative image estimation methods have been widely used in emission tomography. Accurate estimation of the uncertainty of the reconstructed images is essential for quantitative applications. While both iteration-based noise analysis and fixed-point noise analysis have been developed, current iteration-based results are limited to only a few algorithms that have an explicit multiplicative update equation and some may not converge to the fixed-point result. This paper presents a theoretical noise analysis that is applicable to a wide range of preconditioned gradient-type algorithms. Under a certain condition, the proposed method does not require an explicit expression of the preconditioner. By deriving the fixed-point expression from the iteration-based result, we show that the proposed iteration-based noise analysis is consistent with fixed-point analysis. Examples in emission tomography and transmission tomography are shown. The results are validated using Monte Carlo simulations.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Feedback
  • Image Enhancement / methods*
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Models, Statistical*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Stochastic Processes*
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed / methods*
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / methods