A CT system includes a rotatable gantry having an opening to receive an object to be scanned, an x-ray tube having an anode, the x-ray tube positioned on the gantry to generate x-rays from a focal spot of the anode and through the opening, and a pixelated detector positioned on the gantry to receive the x-rays. The system includes a computer programmed to acquire CT data based on x-rays passing through the opening and to the pixelated detector, generate projection data from the acquired CT data, the projection data is corrected to account for heel effect by a correction factor that is determined based in part on an interaction depth of the x-rays within the anode, and based on an angular direction from the interaction depth to particular pixels within the pixelated detector, and reconstruct an image based on the generated projection data.
