Method of and system for improving the signal to noise characteristics of images from a digital X-ray detector receiving bi-chromatic X-ray energy
First Claim
1. A method of improving a signal to noise ratio associated with an output of a digital x-ray detector receiving bi-chromatic x-ray energy, comprising:
- acquiring from the detector a first image corresponding to x-ray energy at a first energy level, and scaling the first image with a first scaling factor so as to produce a scaled first image;
acquiring from the detector a second image corresponding to x-ray energy at a second energy level, and scaling the second image with a second scaling factor so as to produce a second scaled image; and
, combining the first scaled image and the second scaled image so as to form a compensated image.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of improving the signal to noise ratio associated with the output of a digital x-ray detector receiving bi-chromatic x-ray energy includes acquiring a first image from the detector corresponding to x-ray energy at a first energy level, and scaling the first image with a first scaling factor so as to produce a scaled first image. The method further includes acquiring a second image from the detector corresponding to x-ray energy at a second energy level, and scaling the second image with a second scaling factor so as to produce a second scaled image. The method also includes combining the first scaled image and the second scaled image so as to form a compensated image.
38 Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method of improving a signal to noise ratio associated with an output of a digital x-ray detector receiving bi-chromatic x-ray energy, comprising:
-
acquiring from the detector a first image corresponding to x-ray energy at a first energy level, and scaling the first image with a first scaling factor so as to produce a scaled first image;
acquiring from the detector a second image corresponding to x-ray energy at a second energy level, and scaling the second image with a second scaling factor so as to produce a second scaled image; and
,combining the first scaled image and the second scaled image so as to form a compensated image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A system for improving a signal to noise ratio associated with an output of a digital x-ray detector receiving bi-chromatic x-ray energy, comprising:
-
a first multiplier for multiplying a first scaling factor by a first image acquired from the detector so as to produce a scaled first image, the first image corresponding to x-ray energy at a first energy level;
a second multiplier for multiplying a second scaling factor by a second image acquired from the detector so as to produce a scaled second image, the second image corresponding to x-ray energy at a second energy level; and
,a combiner for combining the first scaled image with the second scaled image so as to produce a composite image. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
-
-
7. A system for improving a signal to noise ratio associated with an output of a digital x-ray detector that receives bi-chromatic x-ray energy and produces an electrical signal representative of the x-ray energy, comprising:
-
an x-ray source for generating x-ray energy at a first energy level and at a second level, and directing the x-ray energy through an object and toward the detector, so as to project a two-dimensional image of the object onto a surface of the detector;
an image processor (i) for controlling the x-ray source to cyclically produce x-ray energy alternating between the first energy level and the second energy level, and (ii) for formatting the electrical signal from the detector to produce, for each energy level, a block of image data representative of the two-dimensional image of the object, such that the image processor alternately produces blocks of image data representative of the first energy level and the second energy level; and
,an image compensator for applying scaling factors to the blocks of image data from the image processor for each energy level, so as to produce scaled blocks of image data, and for combining the scaled blocks of image data to produce a compensated image. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21)
-
-
12. A method of improving a signal to noise ratio associated with an output of a digital x-ray detector receiving bi-chromatic x-ray energy and producing an electrical signal representative of the x-ray energy, comprising:
-
generating x-ray energy at a first energy level and at a second level, and directing the x-ray energy through an object and toward the detector, so as to project a two-dimensional image of the object onto a surface of the detector;
controlling the x-ray source to cyclically produce x-ray energy alternating between the first energy level and the second energy level;
formatting the electrical signal from the detector to produce, for each energy level, a block of image data representative of the two-dimensional image of the object, such that the image processor alternately produces blocks of image data representative of the first energy level and the second energy level; and
,applying scaling factors to the blocks of image data from the image processor for each energy level, so as to produce scaled blocks of image data, and combining the scaled blocks of image data to produce a compensated image.
-
-
17. A method of improving a signal to noise ratio associated with an output of a digital x-ray detector receiving multi-chromatic x-ray energy, comprising:
-
acquiring from the detector two or more x-ray images, each acquired image corresponding to x-ray energy received at one of two or more energy levels scaling each of the two or more images with an associated scaling factor so as to produce a set of scaled images; and
,combining the set of scaled images so as to form a compensated image.
-
-
19. A system for improving a signal to noise ratio associated with an output of a digital x-ray detector that receives multi-chromatic x-ray energy and produces an electrical signal representative of the x-ray energy, comprising:
-
an x-ray source for generating x-ray energy at two or more energy levels, and directing the x-ray energy through an object and toward the detector, so as to project a two-dimensional image of the object onto a surface of the detector;
an image processor (i) for controlling the x-ray source to cyclically produce x-ray energy alternating among the two or more energy levels, and (ii) for formatting the electrical signal from the detector to produce, for each of the two or more energy levels, a block of image data representative of the two-dimensional image of the object, such that the image processor cyclically produces blocks of image data representative of the two or more energy levels; and
,an image compensator for applying scaling factors to the blocks of image data from the image processor for each energy level, so as to produce scaled blocks of image data, and for combining the scaled blocks of image data to produce a compensated image.
-
Specification