Computed tomography method, computer software, computing device and computed tomography system for determining a volumetric representation of a sample

1. A method of using computed tomography for determining a volumetric representation of a sample, the method comprising:

receiving first x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system;

receiving second x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system, wherein the first x-ray projection data is different from the second x-ray projection data;

reconstructing first reconstructed volume data of the sample from the first x-ray projection data, the first reconstructed volume data including a first voxel representing a region of the sample;

reconstructing second reconstructed volume data of the sample from the second x-ray projection data, the second reconstructed volume data including a second voxel representing the region of the sample;

calculating first individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from the first reconstructed volume data, the first individual confidence measures including a first confidence measure associated with the first voxel;

calculating second individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from the second reconstructed volume data, the second individual confidence measures including a second confidence measure associated with the second voxel; and

combining the first reconstructed volume data and the second reconstructed volume data by voxel-by-voxel comparison and fusion, wherein a fusion criterion is evaluated for each single voxel of the reconstructed data volume based at least partially upon the first individual confidence measures and the second individual confidence measures, the voxel-by-voxel comparison including comparing the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure to evaluate the fusion criterion, and the fusion including selecting either of the first voxel or the second voxel based at least partially upon the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising calculating a conflict measure for individual voxels of the sample volume from the first individual confidence measures and the second individual confidence measures.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising generating resulting reconstructed volume data from the first reconstructed volume data and the second reconstructed volume data based on the first individual confidence measures and the second individual confidence measures.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein generating resulting reconstructed volume data comprises generating reconstructed volume data based on Dempster-Shafer-theory.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein calculating an individual resulting confidence measure comprises calculating an individual resulting confidence measure based on Dempster-Shafer-theory.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein reconstructing first reconstructed volume data comprises reconstructing first reconstructed volume data via a first reconstruction method, wherein reconstructing second reconstructed volume data comprises reconstructing second reconstructed volume data via a second reconstruction method, wherein the second reconstruction method is different from the first reconstruction method.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein reconstructing first reconstructed volume data comprises reconstructing first reconstructed volume data via a first reconstruction method with a first parameter set, wherein reconstructing second reconstructed volume data comprises reconstructing second reconstructed volume data via a second reconstruction method with a second parameter set, wherein the second parameter set is different from the first parameter set.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein reconstructing first reconstructed volume data comprises reconstructing first reconstructed volume data via a first reconstruction method, wherein reconstructing second reconstructed volume data comprises reconstructing second reconstructed volume data via a second reconstruction method, wherein the second reconstruction method is identical to the first reconstruction method.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first individual confidence measures are calculated essentially from the first x-ray projection data and the first reconstructed volume data and the second individual confidence measures are calculated essentially from the second x-ray projection data and the second reconstructed volume data.

10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-usable instructions embodied thereon for performing operations for using computed tomography for determining a volumetric representation of a sample, the operations comprising:

receiving first x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system;

receiving second x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system, wherein the first x-ray projection data is different from the second x-ray projection data;

reconstructing first reconstructed volume data of the sample from the first x-ray projection data, the first reconstructed volume data including a first voxel representing a region of the sample;

reconstructing second reconstructed volume data of the sample from the second x-ray projection data, the second reconstructed volume data including a second voxel representing the region of the sample;

calculating first individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from first reconstructed volume data, the first individual confidence measures including a first confidence measure associated with the first voxel;

calculating second individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from the second reconstructed volume data, the second individual confidence measures including a second confidence measure associated with the second voxel; and

combining the first reconstructed volume data and the second reconstructed volume data by voxel-by-voxel comparison and fusion, wherein a fusion criterion is evaluated for each single voxel of the reconstructed data volume based at least partially upon the first individual confidence measures and the second individual confidence measures, the voxel-by-voxel comparison including comparing the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure to evaluate the fusion criterion, and the fusion including selecting either of the first voxel or the second voxel based at least partially upon the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure.

11. A computing device, programmed in a non-transitory manner, with instructions for performing operations for using computed tomography for determining a volumetric representation of a sample, the operations comprising:

receiving first x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system;

receiving second x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system, wherein the first x-ray projection data is different from the second x-ray projection data;

reconstructing first reconstructed volume data of the sample from the first x-ray projection data, the first reconstructed volume data including a first voxel representing a region of the sample;

reconstructing second reconstructed volume data of the sample from the second x-ray projection data, the second reconstructed volume data including a second voxel representing the region of the sample;

calculating first individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from the first reconstructed volume data, the first individual confidence measures including a first confidence measure associated with the first voxel;

calculating second individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from the second reconstructed volume data, the second individual confidence measures including a second confidence measure associated with the second voxel; and

combining the first reconstructed volume data and the second reconstructed volume data by voxel-by-voxel comparison and fusion, wherein a fusion criterion is evaluated for each single voxel of the reconstructed data volume based at least partially upon the first individual confidence measures and the second individual confidence measures, the voxel-by-voxel comparison including comparing the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure to evaluate the fusion criterion, and the fusion including selecting either of the first voxel or the second voxel based at least partially upon the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure.

12. A computed tomography system, comprising:

an x-ray system adapted to take a set of x-ray projections of a sample, and a computing device adapted for using computed tomography for determining a volumetric representation of a sample, the computing device adapted to perform operations comprising:

receiving first x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system;

receiving second x-ray projection data of the sample taken by an x-ray system, wherein the first x-ray projection data is different from the second x-ray projection data;

reconstructing first reconstructed volume data of the sample from the first x-ray projection data, the first reconstructed volume data including a first voxel representing a region of the sample;

reconstructing second reconstructed volume data of the sample from the second x-ray projection data, the second reconstructed volume data including a second voxel representing the region of the sample;

calculating first individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from the first reconstructed volume data, the first individual confidence measures including a first confidence measure associated with the first voxel;

calculating second individual confidence measures of each corresponding single voxel from the second reconstructed volume data, the second individual confidence measures including a second confidence measure associated with the second voxel; and

calculating at least one resulting set of individual values for each voxel based on said first individual confidence measures and said second individual confidence measures, said individual values comprising:

reconstructed volume data generated from said first and second reconstructed volume data based on said first and second individual confidence measures in a fusion step,

an individual resulting confidence measure generated from said first and second individual confidence measures, and

a conflict measure calculated for individual voxels of the sample volume generated from said first and second individual confidence measures,

wherein the fusion step comprises a voxel-by-voxel comparison and fusion, wherein a fusion criterion is evaluated for each single voxel of the reconstructed data volume, the voxel-by-voxel comparison including comparing the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure to evaluate the fusion criterion, and the fusion including selecting either of the first voxel or the second voxel based at least partially upon the first confidence measure and the second confidence measure.