Approaches to the recovery of three-dimensional information on a biological object, which are often formulated or implemented initially in an intuitive way, are concisely described here based on physical models of the object and the image-formation process. Both three-dimensional electron microscopy and X-ray tomography can be captured in the same mathematical framework, leading to closely-related computational approaches, but the methodologies differ in detail and hence pose different challenges. The editors of this volume, Gabor T. Herman and Joachim Frank, are experts in the respective methodologies and present research at the forefront of biological imaging and structural biology. Computational Methods for Three-Dimensional Microscopy Reconstruction will serve as a useful resource for scholars interested in the development of computational methods for structural biology and cell biology, particularly in the area of 3D imaging and modeling.

Goals of the Book Overthelast thirty yearsthere has been arevolutionindiagnostic radiology as a result oftheemergenceofcomputerized tomography (CT), which is the process of obtaining the density distribution within the human body from multiple x-ray projections. Since an enormous variety of possible density values may occur in the body, a large number of projections are necessary to ensure the accurate reconstruction oftheir distribution. There are other situations in which we desire to reconstruct an object from its projections, but in which we know that the object to be recon structed has only a small number of possible values. For example, a large fraction of objects scanned in industrial CT (for the purpose of nonde structive testing or reverse engineering) are made of a single material and so the ideal reconstruction should contain only two values: zero for air and the value associated with the material composing the object. Similar as sumptions may even be made for some specific medical applications; for example, in angiography ofthe heart chambers the value is either zero (in dicating the absence of dye) or the value associated with the dye in the chamber. Another example arises in the electron microscopy of biological macromolecules, where we may assume that the object to be reconstructed is composed of ice, protein, and RNA. One can also apply electron mi croscopy to determine the presenceor absence ofatoms in crystallinestruc tures, which is again a two-valued situation."

This revised and updated second edition - now with two new chapters - is the only book to give a comprehensive overview of computer algorithms for image reconstruction. It covers the fundamentals of computerized tomography, including all the computational and mathematical procedures underlying data collection, image reconstruction and image display. Among the new topics covered are: spiral CT, fully 3D positron emission tomography, the linogram mode of backprojection, and state of the art 3D imaging results. It also includes two new chapters on comparative statistical evaluation of the 2D reconstruction algorithms and alternative approaches to image reconstruction.

Once we have accepted a precise replacement of the concept of algo rithm, it becomes possible to attempt the problem whether there exist well-defined collections of problems which cannot be handled by algo rithms, and if that is the case, to give concrete cases of this kind. Many such investigations were carried out during the last few decades. The undecidability of arithmetic and other mathematical theories was shown, further the unsolvability of the word problem of group theory. Many mathematicians consider these results and the theory on which they are based to be the most characteristic achievements of mathe matics in the first half of the twentieth century. If we grant the legitimacy of the suggested precise replacements of the concept of algorithm and related concepts, then we can say that the mathematicians have shown by strictly mathematical methods that there exist mathematical problems which cannot be dealt with by the methods of calculating mathematics. In view of the important role which mathematics plays today in our conception of the world this fact is of great philosophical interest. Post speaks of a natural law about the "limitations of the mathematicizing power of Homo Sapiens." Here we also find a starting point for the discussion of the question, what the actual creative activity of the mathematician consists in. In this book we shall give an introduction to the theory of algorithms."

"La narraci6n literaria es la evocaci6n de las nostalgias. " ("Literary narration is the evocation of nostalgia. ") G. G. Marquez, interview in Puerta del Sol, VII, 4, 1996. A Personal Prehistory In 1972 I started cooperating with members of the Biodynamics Research Unit at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, which was under the direction of Earl H. Wood. At that time, their ambitious (and eventually realized) dream was to build the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor (DSR), a device capable of collecting data regarding the attenuation of X-rays through the human body fast enough for stop-action imaging the full extent of the beating heart inside the thorax. Such a device can be applied to study the dynamic processes of cardiopulmonary physiology, in a manner similar to the application of an ordinary cr (computerized tomography) scanner to observing stationary anatomy. The standard method of displaying the information produced by a cr scanner consists of showing two-dimensional images, corresponding to maps of the X-ray attenuation coefficient in slices through the body. (Since different tissue types attenuate X-rays differently, such maps provide a good visualization of what is in the body in those slices; bone - which attenuates X-rays a lot - appears white, air appears black, tumors typically appear less dark than the surrounding healthy tissue, etc. ) However, it seemed to me that this display mode would not be appropriate for the DSR.

This revised and updated second edition - now with two new chapters - is the only book to give a comprehensive overview of computer algorithms for image reconstruction. It covers the fundamentals of computerized tomography, including all the computational and mathematical procedures underlying data collection, image reconstruction and image display. Among the new topics covered are: spiral CT, fully 3D positron emission tomography, the linogram mode of backprojection, and state of the art 3D imaging results. It also includes two new chapters on comparative statistical evaluation of the 2D reconstruction algorithms and alternative approaches to image reconstruction.

Goals of the Book Overthelast thirty yearsthere has been arevolutionindiagnostic radiology as a result oftheemergenceofcomputerized tomography (CT), which is the process of obtaining the density distribution within the human body from multiple x-ray projections. Since an enormous variety of possible density values may occur in the body, a large number of projections are necessary to ensure the accurate reconstruction oftheir distribution. There are other situations in which we desire to reconstruct an object from its projections, but in which we know that the object to be recon structed has only a small number of possible values. For example, a large fraction of objects scanned in industrial CT (for the purpose of nonde structive testing or reverse engineering) are made of a single material and so the ideal reconstruction should contain only two values: zero for air and the value associated with the material composing the object. Similar as sumptions may even be made for some specific medical applications; for example, in angiography ofthe heart chambers the value is either zero (in dicating the absence of dye) or the value associated with the dye in the chamber. Another example arises in the electron microscopy of biological macromolecules, where we may assume that the object to be reconstructed is composed of ice, protein, and RNA. One can also apply electron mi croscopy to determine the presenceor absence ofatoms in crystallinestruc tures, which is again a two-valued situation."

"La narraci6n literaria es la evocaci6n de las nostalgias. " ("Literary narration is the evocation of nostalgia. ") G. G. Marquez, interview in Puerta del Sol, VII, 4, 1996. A Personal Prehistory In 1972 I started cooperating with members of the Biodynamics Research Unit at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, which was under the direction of Earl H. Wood. At that time, their ambitious (and eventually realized) dream was to build the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor (DSR), a device capable of collecting data regarding the attenuation of X-rays through the human body fast enough for stop-action imaging the full extent of the beating heart inside the thorax. Such a device can be applied to study the dynamic processes of cardiopulmonary physiology, in a manner similar to the application of an ordinary cr (computerized tomography) scanner to observing stationary anatomy. The standard method of displaying the information produced by a cr scanner consists of showing two-dimensional images, corresponding to maps of the X-ray attenuation coefficient in slices through the body. (Since different tissue types attenuate X-rays differently, such maps provide a good visualization of what is in the body in those slices; bone - which attenuates X-rays a lot - appears white, air appears black, tumors typically appear less dark than the surrounding healthy tissue, etc. ) However, it seemed to me that this display mode would not be appropriate for the DSR.

The conference was devoted to the discussion of present and future techniques in medical imaging, including 3D x-ray CT, ultrasound and diffraction tomography, and biomagnetic ima- ging. The mathematical models, their theoretical aspects and the development of algorithms were treated. The proceedings contains surveys on reconstruction in inverse obstacle scat- tering, inversion in 3D, and constrained least squares pro- blems.Research papers include besides the mentioned imaging techniques presentations on image reconstruction in Hilbert spaces, singular value decompositions, 3D cone beam recon- struction, diffuse tomography, regularization of ill-posed problems, evaluation reconstruction algorithms and applica- tions in non-medical fields. Contents: Theoretical Aspects: J.Boman: Helgason' s support theorem for Radon transforms-a newproof and a generalization -P.Maass: Singular value de- compositions for Radon transforms- W.R.Madych: Image recon- struction in Hilbert space -R.G.Mukhometov: A problem of in- tegral geometry for a family of rays with multiple reflec- tions -V.P.Palamodov: Inversion formulas for the three-di- mensional ray transform - Medical Imaging Techniques: V.Friedrich: Backscattered Photons - are they useful for a surface - near tomography - P.Grangeat: Mathematical frame- work of cone beam 3D reconstruction via the first derivative of the Radon transform -P.Grassin, B.Duchene, W.Tabbara: Dif- fraction tomography: some applications and extension to 3D ultrasound imaging -F.A.Gr}nbaum: Diffuse tomography: a re- fined model -R.Kress, A.Zinn: Three dimensional reconstruc- tions in inverse obstacle scattering -A.K.Louis: Mathemati- cal questions of a biomagnetic imaging problem - Inverse Problems and Optimization: Y.Censor: On variable block algebraic reconstruction techniques -P.P.Eggermont: On Volterra-Lotka differential equations and multiplicative algorithms for monotone complementary problems

Advances in Discrete Tomography and its Applications is a unified presentation of new methods, algorithms, and select applications that are the foundations of multidimensional image construction and reconstruction. The self-contained survey chapters, written by leading mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists, present cutting-edge research and results in the field. Three main areas are covered: theoretical results, algorithms, and practical applications. Following an historical and introductory overview of the field, the book explores various mathematical and computational problems of discrete tomography with an emphasis on new applications. Topics and features include: historical overview and summary chapter; uniqueness and complexity in discrete tomography; 3-D tomographic reconstruction from radiographic data; symbolic projections; and, applications to neutron tomography. Professionals, researchers, practitioners, and students in mathematics, computer imaging, biomedical imaging, computer engineering, and image processing will find the book to be a useful guide and reference to state-of-the-art research, methods, and applications.