Multi-Pose Fusion for Sparse-View CT Reconstruction Using Consensus Equilibrium

CT imaging works by reconstructing an object of interest from a collection of projections. Traditional methods such as filtered-back projection (FBP) work on projection images acquired around a fixed rotation axis. However, for some CT problems, it is desirable to perform a joint reconstruction from projection data acquired from multiple rotation axes. In this paper, we present Multi-Pose Fusion, a novel algorithm that performs a joint tomographic reconstruction from CT scans acquired from multiple poses of a single object, where each pose has a distinct rotation axis. Our approach uses multi-agent consensus equilibrium (MACE), an extension of plug-and-play, as a framework for integrating projection data from different poses. We apply our method on simulated data and demonstrate that Multi-Pose Fusion can achieve a better reconstruction result than single pose reconstruction.Comment: To appear in 58th Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computin

Measuring the impact of steroid therapy on health-related quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases: International development of a glucocorticoid treatment-specific patient reported outcome measure

Objectives: Glucocorticoids (GCs) (‘steroids’) are used to treat rheumatic diseases but adverse effects are common. We aimed to explore the impact of GC therapy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), to inform the development of a treatment-specific Patient-Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) for use in clinical trials and practice. Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with patients from the UK, USA and Australia, treated for a rheumatic condition with GCs in the last two years. Purposive sampling was used to select participants with a range of demographic and disease features. An initial conceptual framework informed interview prompts and cues. Interviews elicited GC-related physical and psychological symptoms and salient aspects of HRQoL in relation to GC therapy. Interview data were analysed inductively to develop initial individual themes and domains. Candidate questionnaire items were developed and refined. Results: Sixty semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted (UK n=34, USA n=10, Australia n=16). Mean age 58 years; 39/60 female; 18 rheumatic diseases were represented. 126 individual themes were identified and organised into six domains: physical symptoms; psychological symptoms; psychological impact of steroids; impact of steroids on participation; impact of steroids on relationships; and benefits of steroids. Candidate questionnaire items were tested and refined by piloting with patient research partners, iterative rounds of cognitive interviews, and linguistic translatability assessment, informing a draft questionnaire. Conclusion: We describe an international qualitative study to develop candidate items for a treatment-specific PROM for patients with rheumatic diseases. A future survey will enable the validation of a final version of the PROM