Assessment and comparison of algorithms for in vivo ESR-CT imaging of bioradicals with L-band microwaves.

In ESR-CT imaging, it is much more difficult to obtain satisfactory images than in imaging with other modalities, since two inverse problems, i.e. deconvolution of observed data and reconstruction from projections, must be solved. In this work, suitable algorithms for ESR-CT are examined using simulations and experiments. The algorithms were applied to actual data from a rat's head and a satisfactory reconstructed image was obtained from the viewpoint of morphological imaging. Several properties of the algorithms are discussed: (1) which combination of deconvolution and reconstruction method is favorable, (2) whether or not a raw differential signal should be integrated before deconvolution and reconstruction procedures, and (3) how SIRT, which offers good performance in ESR-CT, depends on an initial value and a noise type.