Breathing motion compensation in chest tomosynthesis: evaluation of the effect on image quality and presence of artifacts
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2025

Purpose: Chest tomosynthesis (CTS) has a relatively longer acquisition time compared with chest X-ray, which may increase the risk of motion artifacts in the reconstructed images. Motion artifacts induced by breathing motion adversely impact the image quality. This study aims to reduce these artifacts by excluding projection images identified with breathing motion prior to the reconstruction of section images and to assess if motion compensation improves overall image quality. Approach: In this study, 2969 CTS examinations were analyzed to identify examinations where breathing motion has occurred using a method based on localizing the diaphragm border in each of the projection images. A trajectory over diaphragm positions was estimated from a second-order polynomial curve fit, and projection images where the diaphragm border deviated from the trajectory were removed before reconstruction. The image quality between motion-compensated and uncompensated examinations was evaluated using the image quality criteria for anatomical structures and image artifacts in a visual grading characteristic (VGC) study. The resulting rating data were statistically analyzed using the software VGC analyzer. Results: A total of 58 examinations were included in this study with breathing motion occurring either at the beginning or end (n = 17) or throughout the entire acquisition (n = 41). In general, no significant difference in image quality or presence of motion artifacts was shown between the motion-compensated and uncompensated examinations. However, motion compensation significantly improved the image quality and reduced the motion artifacts in cases where motion occurred at the beginning or end. In examinations where motion occurred throughout the acquisition, motion compensation led to a significant increase in ripple artifacts and noise. Conclusions: Compensation for respiratory motion in CTS by excluding projection images may improve the image quality if the motion occurs mainly at the beginning or end of the examination. However, the disadvantages of excluding projections may outweigh the benefits of motion compensation.

breathing motion

chest tomosynthesis

image quality

motion compensation

motion artifacts

Författare

Maral Mirzai

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Jenny Nilsson

Göteborgs universitet

Patrik Sund

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Rauni Rossi-Norrlund

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Micael Oliveira Diniz

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Bengt Gottfridsson

Göteborgs universitet

Ida Häggström

Chalmers, Elektroteknik, Signalbehandling och medicinsk teknik

Göteborgs universitet

Åse (Allansdotter) Johnsson

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Magnus Båth

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Angelica Svalkvist

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Journal of Medical Imaging

23294302 (ISSN) 23294310 (eISSN)

Vol. 12 S13004

Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2025)

Radiologi och bildbehandling

DOI

10.1117/1.JMI.12.S1.S13004

PubMed

39281664

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2025-06-09