Adaptive monotonicity method for permittivity imaging

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate improvement of the accuracy of electrical tomography reconstruction by incorporation of a priori knowledge into the inverse problem solution.

Design/methodology/approach

The fusion of two different inversion algorithms capable of real‐time operation is discussed, namely a non‐iterative monotonicity‐based approach, determining the a priori knowledge and an iterative Gauss‐Newton (GN)‐based reconstruction algorithm. Furthermore, the method is compared with the unmodified algorithms themselves by means of reconstructions from simulated inclusions at different noise levels.

Findings

The accuracy of the inverse problem reconstructions, especially at the boundary regions of the unknown inclusions, benefit from the investigations of incorporating a priori knowledge about material values and can be considerable improved. The monotonicity method itself, which has low complexity, provides remarkable reconstruction results in electrical tomography.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is applied to simulated discrete two‐phase scenarios, e.g. gas/oil mixtures. In a further step the method would be tested with measured data. Moreover, investigations have to be carried out in order to make the monotonicity‐based reconstruction principle more robust against disturbing artifacts.

Originality/value

The fusion of the non‐iterative monotonicity‐based method with the GN‐based algorithm demonstrates a novel approach of improving the reconstruction accuracy in electrical tomography.

Citation

Wallinger, C., Watzenig, D., Steiner, G. and Brandstätter, B. (2009), "Adaptive monotonicity method for permittivity imaging", COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 892-906. https://doi.org/10.1108/03321640910958991