Data-consistent neural networks for solving nonlinear inverse problems

Data assisted reconstruction algorithms, incorporating trained neural networks, are a novel paradigm for solving inverse problems. One approach is to first apply a classical reconstruction method and then apply a neural network to improve its solution. Empirical evidence shows that such two-step methods provide high-quality reconstructions, but they lack a convergence analysis. In this paper we formalize the use of such two-step approaches with classical regularization theory. We propose data-consistent neural networks that we combine with classical regularization methods. This yields a data-driven regularization method for which we provide a full convergence analysis with respect to noise. Numerical simulations show that compared to standard two-step deep learning methods, our approach provides better stability with respect to structural changes in the test set, while performing similarly on test data similar to the training set. Our method provides a stable solution of inverse problems that exploits both the known nonlinear forward model as well as the desired solution manifold from data.

Sparse regularization of inverse problems by operator-adapted frame thresholding

We analyze sparse frame based regularization of inverse problems by means of a diagonal frame decomposition (DFD) for the forward operator, which generalizes the SVD. The DFD allows to define a non-iterative (direct) operator-adapted frame thresholding approach which we show to provide a convergent regularization method with linear convergence rates. These results will be compared to the well-known analysis and synthesis variants of sparse $ell^1$-regularization which are usually implemented thorough iterative schemes. If the frame is a basis (non-redundant case), the thr

Learned backprojection for sparse and limited view photoacoustic tomography

Filtered backprojection (FBP) is an efficient and popular class of tomographic image reconstruction methods. In photoacoustic tomography, these algorithms are based on theoretically exact analytic inversion formulas which results in accurate reconstructions. However, photoacoustic measurement data are often incomplete (limited detection view and sparse sampling), which results in artefacts in the images reconstructed with FBP. In addition to that, properties such as directivity of the acoustic detectors are not accounted for in standard FBP, which affects the reconstruction quality, too. To account for these issues, in this papers we propose to improve FBP algorithms based on machine learning techniques. In the proposed method, we include additional weight factors in the FBP, that are optimized on a set of incomplete data and the corresponding ground truth photoacoustic source. Numerical tests show that the learned FBP improves the reconstruction quality compared to the standard FBP.

Analysis of the Block Coordinate Descent Method for Linear Ill-Posed Problems

Block coordinate descent (BCD) methods approach optimization problems by performing gradient steps along alternating subgroups of coordinates. This is in contrast to full gradient descent, where a gradient step updates all coordinates simultaneously. BCD has been demonstrated to accelerate the gradient method in many practical large-scale applications. Despite its success no convergence analysis for inverse problems is known so far. In this paper, we investigate the BCD method for solving linear inverse problems. As main theoretical result, we show that for operators having a particular tensor product form, the BCD method combined with an appropriate stopping criterion yields a convergent regularization method. To illustrate the theory, we perform numerical experiments comparing the BCD and the full gradient descent method for a system of integral equations. We also present numerical tests for a non-linear inverse problem not covered by our theory, namely one-step inversion in multi-spectral X-ray tomography.

Efficient regularization with wavelet sparsity constraints in PAT

In this paper we consider the reconstruction problem of photoacoustic tomography (PAT) with a flat observation surface. We develop a direct reconstruction method that employs regularization with wavelet sparsity constraints. To that end, we derive a wavelet-vaguelette decomposition (WVD) for the PAT forward operator and a corresponding explicit reconstruction formula in the case of exact data. In the case of noisy data, we combine the WVD reconstruction formula with soft-thresholding which yields a spatially adaptive estimation method. We demonstrate that our method is statistically optimal for white random noise if the unknown function is assumed to lie in any Besov-ball. We present generalizations of this approach and, in particular, we discuss the combination of vaguelette soft-thresholding with a TV prior. We also provide an efficient implementation of the vaguelette transform that leads to fast image reconstruction algorithms supported by numerical results.

Analysis of the Linearized Problem of Quantitative Photoacoustic Tomography

Quantitative image reconstruction in photoacoustic tomography requires the solution of a coupled physics inverse problem involvier light transport and acoustic wave propagation. In this paper we address this issue employing the radiative transfer equation as accurate model for light transport. As main theoretical results, we derive several stability and uniqueness results for the linearized inverse problem. We consider the case of single illumination as well as the case of multiple illuminations assuming full or partial data. The numerical solution of the linearized problem is much less costly than the solution of the non-linear problem. We present numerical simulations supporting the stability results for the linearized problem and demonstrate that the linearized problem already gives accurate quantitative results.