FEATURE GUIDED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING AN IMAGE OF AN OBJECT

A method and apparatus for obtaining an image from an object by acquiring training signal measurements which represent images of a plurality of training objects having at least one predetermined feature in common with the object and derive, from the training signal measurements, a set of basis functions that provide a convergent series expansion of the images. The method and apparatus determine a signal measurement prescription for the object based on the basis functions. A signal measurement acquiring device is controlled to acquire signal measurements of the object as determined by the signal measurement prescription. A truncated basis function expansion of the image is generated from the acquired signal measurements. Estimates of additional signal measurements are carried out based on the truncated basis function expansion. The image is reconstructed using the obtained signal measurements and the estimated additional signal measurements. The training signals may also be generated synthetically without the use of training objects.