Image reconstruction algorithm for diffraction enhanced imaging-based computed tomography

A number of reconstruction algorithms for differential phase-contrast computed tomography reconstruct the refractive index decrement using the refraction angles of X-rays. However, these approaches require that the refraction angle at each view be extracted from several raw images captured at the same view, leading to unacceptably long exposure times and huge X-ray doses. We develop an iterative reconstruction algorithm to reconstruct the complex refractive index from raw images gathered only once at each view angle. Using the Tikhonov regularization method as basis, we simultaneously obtain the refractive index decrement and attenuation coefficient by minimizing the cost function. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm effectively yields reconstructed images of low noise level.