An Image Reconstruction Algorithm Based on Two-Step Iterative Shrinkage/Thresholding for Electrical Resistance Tomography

In this paper, we present a combined GA-ERT method based on two-stage genetic algorithm for image reconstruction in electrical resistance tomography (ERT). Image reconstruction in ERT is an ill-posed inverse problem and we have replaced the reverse solver by a two-stage optimization algorithm. The first stage of GA-ERT is reach to an approximate shape and location of the object. Also in this stage, we proposed a new electrode arrangement for ERT forward solver to reduce the process time of the forward problem. In the second stage, the GA employs result of the first stage as an initial population instead of a random group. Therefore with the local zoom, the GA can be employed to obtain the shape and location of the object more precisely. Experimental results of numerically solved ERT by the GA are also presented and compared to those obtained by other more established inversion methods such as modified Newton–Raphson (mNR) and RES2DINV program which is a standard 2-D resistivity inversion program. Results show that the proposed method can efficiently improve the ill-posed condition of ERT image reconstruction problem and can superiorly enhance the quality of ERT images.

Electrical resistance tomography image reconstruction based on one-dimensional multi-branch convolutional neural network combined with attention mechanism

When we use a discretization by finite differences, to solve differential equations we find problems at the border of the domain of the solution. If the solution is also immersed in a ill-posed inverse problem; we can find very bad solutions. In this paper we apply a discretization of two - sided difference quotients method to solve Ill-posed inverse self-adjoint elliptic problem [Kirsch(2011)]. Some numerical examples showing the effectiveness of this method and we will use mollification techniques to smooth the solutions.

Image reconstruction for Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) is an ill-posed nonlinear inverse problem. Considering the influence of the sparse measurement data on the quality of the reconstructed image, the l1-regularized least-squares program (l1 regularized LSP) is introduced to solve the inverse problem in this paper. To meet the need of high speed in ERT, the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm (FISTA) is employed for image reconstruction in our work. Simulation results of the FISTA and l1_ls algorithm show that the l <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sub> regularized LSP is superior to the l2 regularization method, especially in avoiding the over-smoothing of the reconstructed image. In addition, to improve the convergence speed and imaging quality in FISTA algorithm, the initial guess is calculated with the conjugate gradient method. Comparative simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of FISTA in ERT system and its advantage over the l1_ls regularization method.

Singular value decomposition has served as a diagnostic tool in optical computed tomography by using its capability to provide insight into the condition of ill-posed inverse problems. Various tomographic geometries are compared to one another through the singular value spectrum of their weight matrices. The number of significant singular values in the singular value spectrum of a weight matrix is a quantitative measure of the condition of the system of linear equations defined by a tomographic geometery. The analysis involves variation of the following five parameters, characterizing a tomographic geometry: 1) the spatial resolution of the reconstruction domain, 2) the number of views, 3) the number of projection rays per view, 4) the total observation angle spanned by the views, and 5) the selected basis function. Five local basis functions are considered: the square pulse, the triangle, the cubic B-spline, the Hanning window, and the Gaussian distribution. Also items like the presence of noise in the views, the coding accuracy of the weight matrix, as well as the accuracy of the accuracy of the singular value decomposition procedure itself are assessed.

Distribution of electrical potentials over the surface of the heart, which is called the epicardial potential distribution, is a valuable tool to understand whether there is a defect in the heart. Direct measurement of these potentials requires highly invasive procedures. An alternative is to reconstruct these epicardial potentials non-invasively from the body surface potentials, which constitutes one form of the ill-posed inverse problem of electrocardiography (ECG). The goal of this study is to solve the inverse problem of ECG using several regularization methods and compare their performances. We employed Tikhonov Regularization, Truncated Singular Value Decomposition (TSVD), Least Squares QR (LSQR) methods in this study. We compared the effectiveness of these regularization methods to solve the ill-posed inverse ECG problem. Some of the regularization methods require a regularization parameter to solve the inverse problem. We used the well-known L-Curve method to obtain the regularization parameter. The performance of the regularization methods for solving the inverse ECG problem was also evaluated based on a realistic heart-torso model simulation protocol. In this paper, we also investigated the usage of genetic algorithm (GA) for regularizing the ill-posed inverse ECG problem. The results showed that GA can be applied to regularize the ill-posed problem when combined with the results of conventional regularization methods or additional information about solutions.

This paper proposes a new iterative integration regularization method for robust solution of ill-posed inverse problems. The proposed method is motivated from the fact that inversion of a positive definite matrix can be expressed in an integral form. Then, the development of the proposed method is mainly twofold. Firstly, two ways—including the linear iteration and the exponential ($$2^j$$) iteration—are invoked to compute the integral, of which the exponential iteration is often preferred due to its fast convergence. Secondly, after stability analysis, the proposed method is shown able to filter out the undesired effect of relatively small singular values, while preserving the desired terms of relatively large singular values, i.e., the proposed method has the guaranteed regularization effect. Numerical examples on three typical ill-posed problems are conducted with detailed comparison to some usual direct and iterative regularization methods. Final results have highlighted the proposed method: (a) due to the iterative nature, the proposed method often turns out to be more efficient than the conventional direct regularization methods including the Tikhonov regularization and the truncated singular value decomposition (TSVD), (b) the proposed method converges much faster than the Landweber method and (c) the regularization effect is guaranteed in the proposed method, while may not be in the conjugate gradient method for least squares problem (CGLS).

Geophysical Inverse Theory and Regularization Problems

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) can be used to probe electrical conductivity variation of an object. It offers a nondestructive and contactless means of imaging the internal conductivity distribution of the object. The forward problem in MIT is a general eddy current problem, which is required to estimate the measured data for a given conductivity distribution. The edge finite-element method with a formulation using a magnetic vector potential has been implemented to solve the forward problem. Conductivity reconstruction in MIT is a nonlinear and ill-posed inverse problem. The regularization techniques are required to incorporate a priori knowledge of the conductivity distribution for a stable solution of this inverse problem. This article presents a conductivity interface reconstruction technique, which has an inherent regularization property. Instead of calculating the conductivity distribution in the whole region of interest, the interface between two different conductivities is reconstructed. A narrowband level-set method has been implemented to describe the interfaces. An iterative optimization scheme has been used to modify the interface estimation in each iteration step, so that the predicated forward solution is closed to the measured data. The results are presented using experimental data representative of an application of MIT in molten metal flow visualization.

A new method of modeling and simulation for Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) System applied to two phase flow measurement is presented in the paper. Based on the MATLAB PDE (Partial Differential Equations) tool box, the mathematical model is established, the forward problem is solved and the distributions of electric potential and current density in sensitive field are obtained. The results are verified by ANSYS. It has an important theoretical significance for the research of sensitive field and image reconstruction of ERT.

TwIST sparse regularization method using cubic B-spline dual scaling functions for impact force identification

The problem with image reconstruction from impedance tomography is an ill-posed inverse problem. To get quantitative information on the change in conductivity, it would be better to use a non-linear model in the differential imaging solution. Statistical methods such as PCR, PLRS, elastic net, Lars, SVR were used to reconstruct the image. The discussed techniques can be applied to the problem of electrical tomography. The algorithms used to identify unknown material coefficient.

The Newsletter is a key element in further enhancing the value of the journal to the inverse problems community. So why not be a part of this exciting forum by sending to our Bristol office material suitable for inclusion under any of the categories mentioned above. Your contributions will be very welcome. Book review Introduction to Inverse Problems in Imaging M Bertero and P Boccacci 1998 Bristol: Institute of Physics 362 pp ISBN 0-7503-0435-9 (pbk) £25.00, $49.00 This book shows that several problems in imaging are in fact linear inverse problems. In general inverse problems are ill-posed in the sense that small perturbations in the (measured) data have a significant influence on the output. Consequently, numerical methods developed in a general setting of inverse problems which cure the ill-posedness (such methods are called regularization methods) can be applied to solve problems in imaging. This is an excellent textbook on the principle of linear inverse problems, methods of their numerical solution and practical applications in imaging. It introduces basic ideas and methods for the solution of inverse and ill-posed problems while avoiding the mathematics of functional treatment of operator equations. This goal is achieved by a bottom-up presentation: the authors focus on the two problems of image deconvolution and tomography (bottom) and develop regularization theory specifically for these two problems. Most other books which are concerned with the numerical solution of inverse problems present a top-down approach. That is, a general regularization theory (top) is developed which is then applied to particular problems. The distinguished presentation makes the book very useful to students in applied mathematics, practitioners in engineering science and image processing. This book has the best prerequisites to establish a close link between the mathematical fields of imaging and inverse problems. Mainly the book focuses on two topics: image deconvolution and linear imaging systems. 1. In image deconvolution the goal is to restore a space invariant blurred image. This part of the book contains mathematical tools in image deconvolution, examples of space invariant imaging systems, a comparison of image deconvolution techniques and low-pass filtering techniques, the analysis of the ill-posedness of the deconvolution problem, regularization methods for deconvolution such as constrained least squares regularization, Tikhonov regularization, iterative regularization and statistical methods. Since the authors focus on particular problems they are able to analyse various methods for deconvolution on a very concrete level. As an example I would like to mention that the authors analyse Fourier methods for deconvolution. Thus they provide an optimal starting point to the theory of inverse problems for people working in the area of signal and image processing. 2. The second part of the book considers linear imaging systems that are not of a convolution type such as tomography problems, diffraction problems and inverse scattering problems. Efficient numerical methods for the solution of this class of problems such as singular value decomposition, Tikhonov regularization methods and Fourier-based methods are presented. O Scherzer Universität Linz

This thesis is a reconciliation between multiple bodies of work with a shared objective that is ``to identify the active support" under different environment settings. The applications of focus within this thesis will be placed on electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. The term ``active support" or only ``support" is commonly used in compressed sensing and sparse signal recovery communities which is essentially referring to ``the most contributing parameters" in a system of linear equations. Although with a common objective shared among the works that have been done within this thesis, this thesis can be divided into two major parts based on applications’ environment. The first part is the support identification under a process expressible by Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. For this problem, a research topic that is known as ``Electrical impedance tomography (EIT)," is chosen as a representative application for a collection of problems expressible by this integral equation. The physical laws (Physics) of EIT can be explained by Maxwell's equations under quasi-static environment. Under such condition, the energy dissipated from the source is spread throughout the region (domain) in a non-linear fashion. Together with the absent of phase or time delay information, the image reconstruction task for EIT usually faces the issue of low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and support ambiguity. Multiple real-life applications typically fall under this category of problems such as medical and geophysical subsurface imaging, deconvolution, and image deblurring. The EIT is an imaging technique that estimates a distribution of electrical admittivity $\gamma$ of a ``subject under test (SUT)" sometimes called as ``medium" based on an inference from data captured from the medium's boundary. Although the name would suggests the value of `impedance' to be measured, in most practical scenario its reciprocal which is `admittance' (admittivity value) is commonly calculated instead. The admittivity value $\gamma$ encapsulates the information of medium's conductivity ($\sigma$) and permittivity ($\epsilon$) with the following expression $\gamma = \sigma + i\omega\epsilon$, where $\omega=2\pi f$ is the angular frequency (rad/s) and $f$ is frequency in Hz. The ``tomographic reconstruction" or ``the process of estimating the medium's internal admittivity distribution" can be accomplished by solving a mathematical problem that is commonly known as an ``inverse problem." Due to a quasi-static nature of this imaging modality, the image reconstruction of the EIT is known to be one of the most severely ill-posed inverse problems. The image reconstruction problem of EIT will be analyzed through two different viewpoints. Firstly, this problem will be analyzed through the lens of a discrete ill-posed inverse problem from the applied mathematics community viewpoint. Secondly, this problem will be re-analyzed through the lens of array signal processing/beamforming framework from the signal processing community viewpoint. While exploring the EIT image reconstruction techniques, it was observed that although the EIT system can be implemented economically, the implementation process is not completely straightforward. Therefore, a framework of a simple and reliable EIT prototyping system that could provide means to collect different data format (e.g. single measurement vector (SMV) and multiple measurement vectors (MMV)) were implemented in this thesis. This robust, economical, and straightforward implementation framework was developed with an aim that it could be beneficial for those who are interested in image reconstruction and inverse algorithms without the access of a full functioning commercialized EIT system. The second part is the support identification for DOA estimation under Gaussian and $\alpha-$stable distributed noises. Several improvements of a robust beamforming technique called MUSIC-like algorithm had been further investigated which helps improve the algorithm's performance. The main focus of this part is the performance improvement of the algorithm that can be used for support identification task under different noise scenarios. Three different approaches for estimating a relaxation parameter, an essential parameter used in the MUSIC-like algorithm, are presented. By experimenting with different approaches, an adaptive framework for relaxation parameter was observed to have the potential for further improvement. The performance of the MUSIC-like algorithm was then further explored through the directional adaptive framework under both Gaussian and $\alpha-$stable distributed noise. It was also compared with the conventional MUSIC algorithm coupled with a pre-conditioned covariance matrix.

Singular value decomposition is the key tool in the analysis and understanding of linear regularization methods in Hilbert spaces. Besides simplifying computations it allows to provide a good understanding of properties of the forward problem compared to the prior information introduced by the regularization methods. In the last decade nonlinear variational approaches such as ` or total variation regularizations became quite prominent regularization techniques with certain properties being superior to standard methods. In the analysis of those, singular values and vectors did not play any role so far, for the obvious reason that these problems are nonlinear, together with the issue of defining singular values and singular vectors in the first place. In this paper however we want to start a study of singular values and vectors for nonlinear variational regularization of linear inverse problems, with particular focus on singular onehomogeneous regularization functionals. A major role is played by the smallest singular value, which we define as the ground state of an appropriate functional combining the (semi)norm introduced by the forward operator and the regularization functional. The optimality condition for the ground state further yields a natural generalization to higher singular values and vectors involving the subdifferential of the regularization functional, although we shall see that the Rayleigh principle may fail for higher singular values. Using those definitions of singular values and vectors, we shall carry over two main properties from the world of linear regularization. The first one is gaining information about scale, respectively the behavior of regularization techniques at different scales. This also leads to novel estimates at different scales, generalizing the estimates for the coefficients in the linear singular value expansion. The second one is to provide classes of exact solutions for variational regularization methods. We will show that all singular vectors can be reconstructed up to a scalar factor by the standard Tikhonov-type regularization approach even in the presence of (small) noise. Moreover, we will show that they can even be reconstructed without any bias by the recently popularized inverse scale space method.