Iterative Reconstruction Algorithms for Polyenergetic X-ray Computerized Tomography

A reconstruction algorithm in computerized tomography is a procedure for reconstructing the attenuation coefficientscient, a real-valued function associated with the object of interest, from the measured projection data. Generally speaking, reconstruction algorithms in CT fall into two categories: direct, e.g., filtered back-projection (FBP), or iterative. In this thesis, we discuss a new fast matrix-free iterative reconstruction method based on a polyenergetic model. While most modern x-ray CT scanners rely on the well-known filtered back-projection algorithm, the corresponding reconstructions can be corrupted by beam hardening artifacts. These artifacts arise from the unrealistic physical assumption of monoenergetic x-ray beams. In this thesis, to compensate, we use an alternative model that accounts for differential absorption of polyenergetic x-ray photons and discretize it directly. We do not assume any prior knowledge about the physical properties of the scanned object. We study and implement different solvers and nonlinear unconstrained optimization methods, such as a Newton-like method and an extension of the Levenberg-Marquardt-Fletcher algorithm. We explain how we can use the structure of the Radon matrix and the properties of FBP to make our method matrix-free and fast. Finally, we discuss how we regularize our problem by applying different regularization methods, such as Tikhonov and regularization in the 1-norm. We present numerical reconstructions based on the associated nonlinear discrete formulation incorporating various iterative optimization methods.Ph