Medical Image Reconstruction, 2nd Edition

1 Basic principles of tomography

This is an introductory chapter that presents the fundamental concepts in tomography. It first defines what the tomography is and shows how a tomographic image can be obtained from its measurements using two simple examples. The concept of projection is then explained. Next, the filtered backprojection (FBP) image reconstruction method is introduced using a point source example. Finally, the concept of backprojection is discussed.

1.1 Tomography

The Greek word tomos means a section, a slice, or a cut. Tomography is the process of imaging a cross section. For example, if you are given a watermelon and would like to see inside, the easiest way to do so is to cut it open (Figure 1.1). Clearly, this approach ...