X-Ray Tomographic Reconstruction

Abstract

Tomographic scans have revolutionized imaging techniques used in medical and biological research by resolving individual sample slices instead of several superimposed images that are obtained from regular x-ray scans. X-Ray fluorescence computed tomography, a more specific tomography technique, bombards the sample with synchrotron x-rays and detects the fluorescent photons emitted from the sample. However, since x-rays are attenuated as they pass through the sample, tomographic scans often produce images with erroneous low densities in areas where the x-rays have already passed through most of the sample. To correct for this and correctly reconstruct the data in order to obtain the most accurate images, a program employing iterative methods based on the inverse Radon transform was written. Applying this reconstruction method to a tomographic image recovered some of the lost densities, providing a more accurate image from which element concentrations and internal structure can be determined.