  Pion-loop corrections for Compton scattering are calculated in a novel
approach based on the use of dispersion relations in a formalism obeying
unitarity. The basic framework is presented, including an application to
Compton scattering. In the approach the effects of the non-pole contribution
arising from pion dressing are expressed in terms of (half-off-shell) form
factors and the nucleon self-energy. These quantities are constructed through
the application of dispersion integrals to the pole contribution of loop
diagrams, the same as those included in the calculation of the amplitudes
through a K-matrix formalism. The prescription of minimal substitution is used
to restore gauge invariance. The resulting relativistic-covariant model
combines constraints from unitarity, causality, and crossing symmetry.
