Patent Document ID: 7689017
Application ID: 11424923
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An apparatus comprising: a memory that stores executable instructions to reduce a blooming effect of a bright object in a medical image generated from a low-dose imaging system; and a processor that executes the instructions to: characterize an ideal image as a composition of a first component and a second component, the first component being characterized by a first function and the second component being characterized by a second function; minimize the first function and the second function using a smoothing process; and generate the medical image based on the instructions to minimize; wherein the instructions to minimize the first function and the second function using the smoothing process comprises instructions to implement a smoothing process in accordance with an equation: min f ′ ⁢ ( α ⁢  g ′ - f ′  2 + β ⁢  ∇ f ′  2 ) , where f′ represents at least a portion of the ideal image, g′ represents an image from the low-dose imaging system and α and β determine a relative weighting of the fidelity of f′ to the image, g′.