Generalized total variation iterative constraint strategy in limited angle optical diffraction tomography.

Due to incompleteness of input data inherent to Limited Angle Tomography (LAT), specific additional constraints are usually employed to suppress image artifacts. In this work we demonstrate a new two-stage regularization strategy, named Generalized Total Variation Iterative Constraint (GTVIC), dedicated to semi-piecewise-constant objects. It has been successfully applied as a supplementary module for two different reconstruction algorithms: an X-ray type solver and a diffraction-wise solver. Numerical tests performed on a detailed phantom of a biological cell under conical illumination pattern show significant reduction of axial blurring in the reconstructed refractive index distribution after GTVIC is added. Analogous results were obtained with experimental data. (C)2016 Optical Society of America