Convergence rate calculation of simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique algorithm for diffuse optical tomography image reconstruction: A feasibility study

Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is an emerging technique for functional biological imaging. The imaging quality of DOT depends on the imaging reconstruction algorithm. The SIRT has been widely used for DOT image reconstruction but there is no criterion to truncate based on any kind of residual parameter. The iteration loops will always be decided by experimental rule. This work presents the CR calculation that can be great help for SIRT optimization. In this paper, four inhomogeneities with various shapes of absorption distributions are simulated as imaging targets. The images are reconstructed and analyzed based on the simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT) method. For optimization between time consumption and imaging accuracy in reconstruction process, the numbers of iteration loop needed to be optimized with a criterion in algorithm, that is, the root mean square error (RMSE) should be minimized in limited iterations. For clinical applications of DOT, the RMSE cannot be obtained because the measured targets are unknown. Thus, the correlations between the RMSE and the convergence rate (CR) in SIRT algorithm are analyzed in this paper. From the simulation results, the parameter CR reveals the related RMSE value of reconstructed images. The CR calculation offers an optimized criterion of iteration process in SIRT algorithm for DOT imaging. Based on the result, the SIRT can be modified with CR calculation for self-optimization. CR reveals an indicator of SIRT image reconstruction in clinical DOT measurement. Based on the comparison result between RMSE and CR, a threshold value of CR (CR _T ) can offer an optimized number of iteration steps for DOT image reconstruction. This paper shows the feasibility study by utilizing CR criterion for SIRT in simulation and the clinical application of DOT measurement relies on further investigation.