Augmentation of CBCT Reconstructed From Under-Sampled Projections Using Deep Learning.
Edges tend to be over-smoothed in total variation (TV) regularized under-sampled images. In this paper, symmetric residual convolutional neural network (SR-CNN), a deep learning based model, was proposed to enhance the sharpness of edges and detailed anatomical structures in under-sampled cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). For training, CBCT images were reconstructed using TV-based method from limited projections simulated from the ground truth CT, and were fed into SR-CNN, which was trained to learn a restoring pattern from under-sampled images to the ground truth. For testing, under-sampled CBCT was reconstructed using TV regularization and was then augmented by SR-CNN. Performance of SR-CNN was evaluated using phantom and patient images of various disease sites acquired at different institutions both qualitatively and quantitatively using structure similarity (SSIM) and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). SR-CNN substantially enhanced image details in the TV-based CBCT across all experiments. In the patient study using real projections, SR-CNN augmented CBCT images reconstructed from as low as 120 half-fan projections to image quality comparable to the reference fully-sampled FDK reconstruction using 900 projections. In the tumor localization study, improvements in the tumor localization accuracy were made by the SR-CNN augmented images compared with the conventional FDK and TV-based images. SR-CNN demonstrated robustness against noise levels and projection number reductions and generalization for various disease sites and datasets from different institutions. Overall, the SR-CNN-based image augmentation technique was efficient and effective in considerably enhancing edges and anatomical structures in under-sampled 3D/4D-CBCT, which can be very valuable for image-guided radiotherapy.
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Related Subject Headings
- Phantoms, Imaging
- Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
- Lung Neoplasms
- Lung
- Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
- Humans
- Deep Learning
- Cone-Beam Computed Tomography
- Algorithms
- 46 Information and computing sciences
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Phantoms, Imaging
- Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
- Lung Neoplasms
- Lung
- Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
- Humans
- Deep Learning
- Cone-Beam Computed Tomography
- Algorithms
- 46 Information and computing sciences