Enhancing tissue structures with iterative image reconstruction for digital breast tomosynthesis

We design an iterative image reconstruction (IIR) algorithm for enhancing tissue structure contrast. The algorithm takes advantage of a data fidelity term, which compares the derivative of the DBT projections with the derivative of the estimated projections. This derivative data fidelity is sensitive to the edges of tissue structure projections, and as a consequence minimizing the corresponding the data-error term brings out structure information in the reconstructed volumes. The method has the practical advantages that few iterations are required and that direct region-of-interest (ROI) reconstruction is possible with the proposed derivative data fidelity term. Both of these advantages reduce the computational burden of the IIR algorithm and potentially make it feasible for clinical application. The algorithm is demonstrated on clinical DBT data.