A local shift-variant Fourier model and experimental validation of circular cone-beam computed tomography artifacts

Large field of view cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is being achieved using circular source and detector trajectories. These circular trajectories are known to collect insufficient data for accurate image reconstruction. Although various descriptions of the missing information exist, the manifestation of this lack of data in reconstructed images is generally nonintuitive. One model predicts that the missing information corresponds to a shift-variant cone of missing frequency components. This description implies that artifacts depend on the imaging geometry, as well as the frequency content of the imaged object. In particular, objects with a large proportion of energy distributed over frequency bands that coincide with the missing cone will be most compromised. These predictions were experimentally verified by imaging small, localized objects (acrylic spheres, stacked disks) at varying positions in the object space and observing the frequency spectrums of the reconstructions. Measurements of the internal angle of the missing cone agreed well with theory, indicating a right circular cone for points on the rotation axis, and an oblique, circular cone elsewhere. In the former case, the largest internal angle with respect to the vertical axis corresponds to the (half) cone angle of the CBCT system (typically ∼5°-7.5° in IGRT). Object recovery was also found to be strongly dependent on the distribution of the object's frequency spectrum relative to the missing cone, as expected. The observed artifacts were also reproducible via removal of local frequency components, further supporting the theoretical model. Larger objects with differing internal structures (cellular polyurethane, solid acrylic) were also imaged and interpreted with respect to the previous results. Finally, small animal data obtained using a clinical CBCT scanner were observed for evidence of the missing cone. This study provides insight into the influence of incomplete data collection on the appearance of objects imaged in large field of view CBCT.