System and method for tomographic data acquisition and image reconstruction

1. A tomographic system comprising:

a gantry having an opening for receiving an object to be scanned;

a radiation source;

a detector positioned to receive radiation from the source that passes through the object; and

a computer programmed to:

acquire a plurality of projection datasets of the object;

define a temporal subset of projection datasets from the plurality of projection datasets;

reconstruct a working image of the object using the plurality of projection datasets;

identify a region of motion in the working image; and

minimize motion artifacts in the region of motion in the working image using the temporal subset of projection datasets.

2. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to identify the region of motion in the working image using one of: the plurality of projection datasets, projection datasets obtained outside of the defined temporal window, and a motion map generated using at least the working image.

3. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to acquire the plurality of projection datasets of the object over a half-scan of the object.

4. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to define the temporal subset of projection datasets using an electrocardiograph (ECG).

5. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to define the temporal subset of projection datasets as projection datasets acquired over 90° or more of a rotation of the gantry.

6. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to define the temporal subset of projection datasets based on a temporal feature of the object.

7. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to define the temporal subset of projection datasets as projection datasets acquired over 130° or less of a rotation of the gantry.

8. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to identify the region of motion of the working image using one of projection datasets from two or more radiation source positions and a difference image that is generated using a first image and a second image.

9. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to correct the identified region of motion using a projection dataset from the plurality of projection datasets that is not a projection dataset of the defined temporal subset of projection datasets.

10. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to reconstruct the working image of the object using one of a model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR), an algebraic reconstruction technique (ART), a simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART), an ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM), and a kinetic parameter iterative reconstruction (KPIR).

11. The tomographic system of claim 1 wherein the gantry is one of a computed tomography (CT) gantry, a c-arm gantry, a PET gantry, and a SPECT gantry.

12. A method of image reconstruction comprising:

obtaining a plurality of projection datasets of an object;

defining a temporal subset of projection datasets from the plurality of projection datasets;

reconstructing an image of the object using the plurality of projection datasets; and

correcting a motion artifact in at least one identified voxel of the image using the temporal subset of projection datasets.

13. The method of claim 12 comprising identifying the voxel in the image that includes a motion artifact using the plurality of projection datasets.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein obtaining the plurality of projection datasets comprises obtaining a half-scan of projection datasets.

15. The method of claim 12 comprising obtaining electrocardiograph (ECG) data of the object and wherein defining the temporal subset of projection datasets comprises defining the temporal subset of projection datasets using the ECG data.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein defining the temporal subset of projection datasets comprises defining the temporal subset of projection datasets as projection datasets obtained over 90° or greater of a rotation of a gantry.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein defining the temporal subset of projection datasets comprises defining the temporal subset of projection datasets as projection datasets obtained based on a temporal feature of the object.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein defining the temporal subset of projection datasets comprises defining the temporal subset of projection datasets as projection datasets obtained over 130° or less of a rotation of a gantry.

19. The method of claim 12 comprising identifying the voxel in the image that includes the motion artifact using two or more projection datasets from the plurality of projection datasets that are not included in the temporal subset of projection datasets.

20. The method of claim 12 comprising identifying the voxel in the image that includes the motion artifact using a difference image that is generated using a first reconstructed image and a second reconstructed image.

21. The method of claim 12 comprising correcting the motion artifact of the identified voxel of the image using one or more projection datasets of the plurality of projection datasets that are not part of the temporal subset of projection datasets.

22. The method of claim 12 comprising reconstructing the image of the object using one of a model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR), an algebraic reconstruction technique (ART), a simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART), an ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM), and a kinetic parameter iterative reconstruction (KPIR).

23. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

access a plurality of tomographic view datasets of an object;

identify a temporal subset of the plurality of tomographic view datasets;

reconstruct a processing image of the object using the plurality of tomographic view datasets; and

revise at least one image voxel in an identified region of motion of the processing image using at least one tomographic view dataset of the temporal subset of tomographic view datasets.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions that cause the computer to access the plurality of tomographic view datasets cause the computer to access the plurality of tomographic view datasets along a circumference of a gantry rotational arc.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further cause the computer to identify the region of motion in the processing image using the plurality of tomographic view datasets.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further cause the computer to access the plurality of tomographic view datasets of the object such that a half-scan tomographic view dataset is formed.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further cause the computer to identify the temporal subset of tomographic view datasets based on temporal features of the object.

28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further cause the computer to identify the temporal subset of tomographic view datasets to be between approximately 90° and 130° of a rotation of a gantry rotational arc.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further cause the computer to identify the region of motion using a difference image that is generated using at least the processing image.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further cause the computer to revise the at least one image voxel using the plurality of tomographic view datasets of the object.