Improving detection of small lung nodules in PET imaging using Fourier-wavelet deconvolution

The restoration approach has been successfully used in nuclear medicine imaging for various applications. However, the restoration process is an ill-conditioned process, which has a tendency to significantly increase the amount of noise in the restored images. New hybrid Fourier-wavelet deconvolution restoration techniques have been developed. Here, the Fourier-wavelet deconvolution restoration technique using Butterworth filter in Fourier domain and Daubechies wavelet function, order 2 was implemented. Wavelet noise suppression was applied by hard threshold. The results show an average 25% increase in contrast in lung lesions, with a 2% increase in noise in the restored images. Image restoration based on a hybrid Fourier-wavelet deconvolution approach can improve the whole-body PET imaging.