METHODS FOR METAL ARTIFACT REDUCTION IN CONE BEAM RECONSTRUCTION

Methods for reconstruction of a volume radiographic image acquire 2-D projection images of a subject at a plurality of acquisition angles and generate an initial 3-D volume image formed of image voxels according to the acquired 2-D projection images. An initial 3-D reconstruction metal mask is formed from voxels that have attenuation to x-rays indicative of metal. At least one voxel is removed from the initial 3-D reconstruction metal mask to form a refined 3-D reconstruction metal mask according to a distribution of pixel values that contribute to the corresponding data value for the at least one voxel. One or more 2-D projection images are modified according to the distribution of pixel values. A refined 3-D volume image is generated according to the modified 2-D projection images. A rendering of the refined 3-D volume image displays that includes at least a portion of the refined 3-D reconstruction metal mask.