Compressed-sensing (CS)-based digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) reconstruction for low-dose, accurate 3D breast X-ray imaging

In practical applications of three-dimensional (3D) tomographic techniques, such as digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), computed tomography (CT), etc., there are often challenges for accurate image reconstruction from incomplete data. In DBT, in particular, the limited-angle and few-view projection data are theoretically insufficient for exact reconstruction; thus, the use of common filtered-backprojection (FBP) algorithms leads to severe image artifacts, such as the loss of the average image value and edge sharpening. One possible approach to alleviate these artifacts may employ iterative statistical methods because they potentially yield reconstructed images that are in better accordance with the measured projection data. In this work, as another promising approach, we investigated potential applications to low-dose, accurate DBT imaging with a state-of-the-art reconstruction scheme based on compressed-sensing (CS) theory. We implemented an efficient CS-based DBT algorithm and performed systematic simulation works to investigate the imaging characteristics. We successfully obtained DBT images of substantially very high accuracy by using the algorithm and expect it to be applicable to developing the next-generation 3D breast X-ray imaging system.