A novel approach for distortion correction for X-ray image intensifiers

Applications of X-ray image intensifiers in medical imaging, include the use of fluoroscopic projection images to generate three-dimensional tomographic reconstructions. Unfortunately, the inherent distortions on the acquired projections deteriorate the quality of the reconstructed tomograms. Distortion correction can be performed using algorithms that can be classified as global or local according to the method used, both having specific advantages and disadvantages. In this work, a novel approach for distortion correction is proposed which, by combining both global and local correction methods allows good image quality in relatively acceptable time. Correction parameters were obtained using a calibration phantom specially designed for this purpose. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.