A novel beam hardening correction method requiring no prior knowledge, incorporated in an iterative reconstruction algorithm

This paper presents a novel beam hardening correction algorithm for X-ray computed tomography which can be used in case no information about the beam spectrum or the material properties is available. This correction is applied in an iterative reconstruction algorithm and takes the effect of beam hardening into account during the reconstruction. The beam hardening is modeled and incorporated in the forward projector of the simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART). The inclusion of the beam hardening correction does not require any additional iterations compared to standard SART. The algorithm is tested on datasets of several samples and significantly reduces the beam hardening artifacts in these datasets.

► We present a novel method reducing beam hardening artifacts in experimental X-ray CT.
► No prior knowledge on sample or beam is required.
► Beam hardening is taken into account during reconstruction.
► The effect of beam hardening is modeled in an iterative reconstruction algorithm.
► No additional iterations are required compared to standard reconstruction.