XCT image reconstruction by a modified superiorized iteration and theoretical analysis

In this paper, we propose an improved iteration superiorization method for X-ray computed tomography image reconstruction. We simplify the classic superiorized iteration by removing two constraints imposed on the perturbation. A novel method is proposed to determine the perturbation amount and direction for the superiorized iteration simultaneously. Some theoretical properties (convergence for instance) of the superiorized iteration sequence with the proposed perturbation are analysed. We present a general proof for the convergence of ART-like iterations with summable perturbations. In addition, we prove the convergence of simultaneous iterations without the summable perturbation assumption. Experiments on simulated and real data not only verify the theoretical result but also show that the proposed algorithm is superior to the classic superiorized iteration and can reconstruct desirable images.