Analytical solution to cone-beam SPECT reconstruction with non-uniform attenuation and distance-dependent resolution variation

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a nuclear medicine imaging technique and widely used in the clinical applications. SPECT image reflects not only organizational structure but also functional activities of human body, such as blood-flow and metabolism condition, therefore diseases can be found much earlier. For many clinical applications, cone-beam geometry is preferred, which can improve count density and spatial resolution, and quantitative reconstruction of radiotracer distribution inside the body is desired. In this paper, we developed an efficient, analytical solution to cone-beam SPECT reconstruction with simultaneous compensation for attenuation and distance-dependent resolution variation (DDRV), as well as accurate treatment of Poisson noise. The simulation results show our reconstruction framework is feasible.