This dissertation develops a second order accurate approximation to the magnetic resonance (MR) signal model used in the PARSE (Parameter Assessment by Retrieval from Single Encoding) method to recover information about the reciprocal of the spin-spin relaxation time function (R2*) and frequency offset function (w) in addition to the typical steady-state transverse magnetization (M) from single-shot magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Sparse regularization on an approximation to the edge map is used to solve the associated inverse problem. Several studies are carried out for both one- and two-dimensional test problems, including comparisons to the first order approximation method, as well as the first order approximation method with joint sparsity across multiple time windows enforced. The second order accurate model provides increased accuracy while reducing the amount of data required to reconstruct an image when compared to piecewise constant in time models. A key component of the proposed technique is the use of fast transforms for the forward evaluation. It is determined that the second order model is capable of providing accurate single-shot MRI reconstructions, but requires an adequate coverage of k-space to do so. Alternative data sampling schemes are investigated in an attempt to improve reconstruction with single-shot data, as current trajectories do not provide ideal k-space coverage for the proposed method.

Inverse problems model real world phenomena from data, where the data are often noisy and models contain errors. This leads to instabilities, multiple solution vectors and thus ill-posedness. To solve ill-posed inverse problems, regularization is typically used as a penalty function to induce stability and allow for the incorporation of a priori information about the desired solution. In this thesis, high order regularization techniques are developed for image and function reconstruction from noisy or misleading data. Specifically the incorporation of the Polynomial Annihilation operator allows for the accurate exploitation of the sparse representation of each function in the edge domain.

This dissertation tackles three main problems through the development of novel reconstruction techniques: (i) reconstructing one and two dimensional functions from multiple measurement vectors using variance based joint sparsity when a subset of the measurements contain false and/or misleading information, (ii) approximating discontinuous solutions to hyperbolic partial differential equations by enhancing typical solvers with l1 regularization, and (iii) reducing model assumptions in synthetic aperture radar image formation, specifically for the purpose of speckle reduction and phase error correction. While the common thread tying these problems together is the use of high order regularization, the defining characteristics of each of these problems create unique challenges.

Fast and robust numerical algorithms are also developed so that these problems can be solved efficiently without requiring fine tuning of parameters. Indeed, the numerical experiments presented in this dissertation strongly suggest that the new methodology provides more accurate and robust solutions to a variety of ill-posed inverse problems.

The detection and characterization of transients in signals is important in many wide-ranging applications from computer vision to audio processing. Edge detection on images is typically realized using small, local, discrete convolution kernels, but this is not possible when samples are measured directly in the frequency domain. The concentration factor edge detection method was therefore developed to realize an edge detector directly from spectral data. This thesis explores the possibilities of detecting edges from the phase of the spectral data, that is, without the magnitude of the sampled spectral data. Prior work has demonstrated that the spectral phase contains particularly important information about underlying features in a signal. Furthermore, the concentration factor method yields some insight into the detection of edges in spectral phase data. An iterative design approach was taken to realize an edge detector using only the spectral phase data, also allowing for the design of an edge detector when phase data are intermittent or corrupted. Problem formulations showing the power of the design approach are given throughout. A post-processing scheme relying on the difference of multiple edge approximations yields a strong edge detector which is shown to be resilient under noisy, intermittent phase data. Lastly, a thresholding technique is applied to give an explicit enhanced edge detector ready to be used. Examples throughout are demonstrate both on signals and images.

The recovery of edge information in the physical domain from non-uniform Fourier data is of importance in a variety of applications, particularly in the practice of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Edge detection can be important as a goal in and of itself in the identification of tissue boundaries such as those defining the locations of tumors. It can also be an invaluable tool in the amelioration of the negative effects of the Gibbs phenomenon on reconstructions of functions with discontinuities or images in multi-dimensions with internal edges. In this thesis we develop a novel method for recovering edges from non-uniform Fourier data by adapting the "convolutional gridding" method of function reconstruction. We analyze the behavior of the method in one dimension and then extend it to two dimensions on several examples.

The reconstruction of piecewise smooth functions from non-uniform Fourier data arises in sensing applications such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This thesis presents a new polynomial based resampling method (PRM) for 1-dimensional problems which uses edge information to recover the Fourier transform at its integer coefficients, thereby enabling the use of the inverse fast Fourier transform algorithm. By minimizing the error of the PRM approximation at the sampled Fourier modes, the PRM can also be used to improve on initial edge location estimates. Numerical examples show that using the PRM to improve on initial edge location estimates and then taking of the PRM approximation of the integer frequency Fourier coefficients is a viable way to reconstruct the underlying function in one dimension. In particular, the PRM is shown to converge more quickly and to be more robust than current resampling techniques used in MRI, and is particularly amenable to highly irregular sampling patterns.

Using object-oriented programming in MATLAB, a collection of functions, named Fourfun, has been created to allow quick and accurate approximations of periodic functions with Fourier expansions. To increase efficiency and reduce the number of computations of the Fourier transform, Fourfun automatically determines the number of nodes necessary for representations that are accurate to close to machine precision. Common MATLAB functions have been overloaded to keep the syntax of the Fourfun class as consistent as possible with the general MATLAB syntax. We show that the system can be used to efficiently solve several differential equations. Comparisons with Chebfun, a similar system based on Chebyshev polynomial approximations, are provided.

In applications such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), data are acquired as Fourier samples. Since the underlying images are only piecewise smooth, standard recon- struction techniques will yield the Gibbs phenomenon, which can lead to misdiagnosis. Although filtering will reduce the oscillations at jump locations, it can often have the adverse effect of blurring at these critical junctures, which can also lead to misdiagno- sis. Incorporating prior information into reconstruction methods can help reconstruct a sharper solution. For example, compressed sensing (CS) algorithms exploit the expected sparsity of some features of the image. In this thesis, we develop a method to exploit the sparsity in the edges of the underlying image. We design a convex optimization problem that exploits this sparsity to provide an approximation of the underlying image. Our method successfully reduces the Gibbs phenomenon with only minimal "blurring" at the discontinuities. In addition, we see a high rate of convergence in smooth regions.

Physical limitations of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) introduce different errors in the image reconstruction process. The discretization and truncation of data under discrete Fourier transform causes oscillations near jump discontinuities, a phenomenon known as the Gibbs effect. Using Gaussian-based approximations rather than the discrete Fourier transform to reconstruct images serves to diminish the Gibbs effect slightly, especially when coupled with filtering. Additionally, a simplifying assumption is made that, during signal collection, the amount of transverse magnetization decay at a point does not depend on that point's position in space. Though this methodology significantly reduces operational run-time, it nonetheless introduces geometric error, which can be mitigated using Single-Shot (SS) Parse.

Edge detection plays a significant role in signal processing and image reconstruction applications where it is used to identify important features in the underlying signal or image. In some of these applications, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), data are sampled in the Fourier domain. When the data are sampled uniformly, a variety of algorithms can be used to efficiently extract the edges of the underlying images. However, in cases where the data are sampled non-uniformly, such as in non-Cartesian MRI, standard inverse Fourier transformation techniques are no longer suitable. Methods exist for handling these types of sampling patterns, but are often ill-equipped for cases where data are highly non-uniform. This thesis further develops an existing approach to discontinuity detection, the use of concentration factors. Previous research shows that the concentration factor technique can successfully determine jump discontinuities in non-uniform data. However, as the distribution diverges further away from uniformity so does the efficacy of the identification. This thesis proposes a method for reverse-engineering concentration factors specifically tailored to non-uniform data by employing the finite Fourier frame approximation. Numerical results indicate that this design method produces concentration factors which can more precisely identify jump locations than those previously developed.

Imaging technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) collect Fourier data and then process the data to form images. Because images are piecewise smooth, the Fourier partial sum (i.e. direct inversion of the Fourier data) yields a poor approximation, with spurious oscillations forming at the interior edges of the image and reduced accuracy overall. This is the well known Gibbs phenomenon and many attempts have been made to rectify its effects. Previous algorithms exploited the sparsity of edges in the underlying image as a constraint with which to optimize for a solution with reduced spurious oscillations. While the sparsity enforcing algorithms are fairly effective, they are sensitive to several issues, including undersampling and noise. Because of the piecewise nature of the underlying image, we theorize that projecting the solution onto the wavelet basis would increase the overall accuracy. Thus in this investigation we develop an algorithm that continues to exploit the sparsity of edges in the underlying image while also seeking to represent the solution using the wavelet rather than Fourier basis. Our method successfully decreases the effect of the Gibbs phenomenon and provides a good approximation for the underlying image. The primary advantages of our method is its robustness to undersampling and perturbations in the optimization parameters.