Artifact Removal using Improved GoogLeNet for Sparse-view CT Reconstruction

Sparse-view Reconstruction can be used to provide accelerated low dose CT imaging with both accelerated scan and reduced projection/back-projection calculation. Despite the rapid developments, image noise and artifacts still remain a major issue in the low dose protocol. In this paper, a deep learning based method named Improved GoogLeNet is proposed to remove streak artifacts due to projection missing in sparse-view CT reconstruction. Residual learning is used in GoogLeNet to study the artifacts of sparse-view CT reconstruction, and then subtracts the artifacts obtained by learning from the sparse reconstructed images, finally recovers a clear correction image. The intensity of reconstruction using the proposed method is very close to the full-view projective reconstructed image. The results indicate that the proposed method is practical and effective for reducing the artifacts and preserving the quality of the reconstructed image.