A generalized Fourier penalty in prior-image-based reconstruction for cross-platform imaging

Sequential CT studies present an excellent opportunity to apply prior-image-based reconstruction (PIBR) methods that leverage high-fidelity prior imaging studies to improve image quality and/or reduce x-ray exposure in subsequent studies. One major obstacle in using PIBR is that the initial and subsequent studies are often performed on different scanners (e.g. diagnostic CT followed by CBCT for interventional guidance); this results in mismatch in attenuation values due to hardware and software differences. While improved artifact correction techniques can potentially mitigate such differences, the correction is often incomplete. Here, we present an alternate strategy where the PIBR itself is used to mitigate these differences. We define a new penalty for the previously introduced PIBR called Reconstruction of Difference (RoD). RoD differs from many other PIBRs in that it reconstructs only changes in the anatomy (vs. reconstructing the current anatomy). Direct regularization of the difference image in RoD provides an opportunity to selectively penalize spatial frequencies of the difference image (e.g. low frequency differences associated with attenuation offsets and shading artifacts) without interfering with the variations in unchanged background image. We leverage this flexibility and introduce a novel regularization strategy using a generalized Fourier penalty within the RoD framework and develop the modified reconstruction algorithm. We evaluate the performance of the new approach in both simulation studies and in physical CBCT test-bench data. We find that generalized Fourier penalty can be highly effective in reducing low-frequency x-ray artifacts through selective suppression of spatial frequencies in the reconstructed difference image.