Reduction of collimator correction artefacts with bayesian reconstruction in spect.

Poor resolution of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has degraded its use in clinical practice. Collimator correction has been shown to improve the reconstructed resolution, but the correction can generate ringing artefacts, which lower image quality. This paper investigates whether Bayesian reconstruction methods could reduce these artefacts. We have applied and tested three Bayesian reconstruction methods: smoothing prior, median root prior, and anatomical prior. To demonstrate the efficacy of these methods, we compared their physical and visual performance both in phantom and patient studies. All the three Bayesian reconstruction methods reduced the collimator correction artefacts. Images reconstructed using the smoothing prior and the median root prior had slightly lower contrast than the standard reconstruction with collimator correction, whereas the anatomical prior produced images with good resolution and contrast.