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As published on the Purdue University website: Researchers are improving the performance of technologies ranging from medical CT scanners to digital cameras using a system of models to extract specific information from huge collections of data and then reconstructing images like a jigsaw puzzle.

The new approach is called model-based iterative reconstruction, or MBIR.

"It's more-or-less how humans solve problems by trial and error, assessing probability and discarding extraneous information," said Charles Bouman, Purdue University's Michael and Katherine Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of biomedical engineering.

MBIR has been used in a new CT scanning technology that exposes patients to one-fourth the radiation of conventional CT scanners. In consumer electronics, a new camera has been introduced that allows the user to focus the picture after it has been taken.

"These innovations are the result of 20 years of research globally to develop iterative reconstruction," Bouman said. "We are just scratching the surface. As the research community builds more accurate models, we can extract more information to get better results."

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MBIR also could bring more affordable CT scanners for airport screening. In conventional scanners, an X-ray source rotates at high speed around a chamber, capturing cross section images of luggage placed inside the chamber. However, MBIR could enable the machines to be simplified by eliminating the need for the rotating mechanism.

Future research includes work to use iterative reconstruction to study materials. Purdue is part of a new Multi-University Research Initiative funded by the U.S. Air Force and led by De Graef. Researchers will use the method to study the structure of materials, work that could lead to development of next-generation materials.

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