Investigation of image reconstruction for digital breast tomosynthesis imaging by use of directional TV constraint

In digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), in-plane images are of clinical utility, whereas images within transverse planes contain significant artifacts simply because the existing algorithms are not designed for reconstructing accurately images within transverse planes from extremely limited-angular-range data. In this work, we investigate and develop a convex primal-dual (CPD) algorithm that incorporates directional total-variation (DTV) constraints for yielding breast images within transverse planes with substantially reduced artifacts when images are reconstructed from DBT data. We have performed numerical studies to demonstrate that the algorithm proposed has the potential to yield breast images with substantially reduced artifacts within transverse planes observed in images obtained otherwise with existing algorithms.