Method and system for processing gated image data

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media, encoding one or more routines which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

• acquiring a first set of image data using a first imaging modality;
• sorting the first set of image data into a plurality of gates to generate a plurality of gated data sets;
• reconstructing each gated data set to generate a respective gated image for each gated data set;
• registering the respective gated images to generate a plurality of registered images;
• and
• generating a median image from the plurality of registered images, wherein each voxel of the median image is a respective median value of the corresponding voxels of the plurality of registered images.

An image processing system, comprising:

• a memory storing one or more routines, and
• a processing component configured to execute the one or more routines stored in the memory, wherein the one or more routines, when executed by the processing component:
• acquire a first set of image data using a first imaging modality;
• sort the first set of image data into a plurality of gates to generate a plurality of gated data sets;
• reconstruct each gated data set to generate a respective gated image for each gated data set;
• register the respective gated images to generate a plurality of registered images;
• and
• generate a median image from the plurality of registered images, wherein each voxel of the median image is a respective median value of the corresponding voxels of the plurality of registered images.

A method for generating an image, comprising:

• acquiring a first set of image data using an imaging modality;
• sorting the first set of image data into a plurality of gates to generate a plurality of gated data sets;
• reconstructing each gated data set to generate a respective gated image for each gated data set;
• registering the respective gated images to generate a plurality of registered images;
• and
• generating an average image or a weighted average image from the plurality of registered images, wherein the average image or the weighted average image is generated using a motion-dependent estimator that is statistically robust with respect to outlying data.

A method for generating an image, comprising:

• acquiring a first set of image data using an imaging modality;
• sorting the first set of image data into a plurality of gates to generate a plurality of gated data sets;
• reconstructing each gated data set to generate a respective gated image for each gated data set;
• registering the respective gated images to generate a plurality of registered images;
• and
• generating an average image or a weighted average image from the plurality of registered images, wherein the average image or the weighted average image is generated using an estimator that identifies outliers in the plurality of registered images and discards or downweights the identified outliers.