Computed tomography system
First Claim
1. A computed tomography device, comprising:
- a tunnel to receive baggage;
an x-ray source providing an x-ray beam that intersects the tunnel and has a beam angle of 120°
;
a gantry that oscillates relative to the tunnel through a rotation angle that equals at least 270° and
is less than 360°
; and
a plurality of detectors mounted to the gantry and adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source, the plurality of detectors being arranged in a horseshoe-shaped configuration in which at least one first detector is located a furthest distance from the x-ray source, and at least one second detector is disposed on each side of the at least one first detector and is disposed closer to the x-ray source than the at least one first detector.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An embodiment of the invention is directed to a computed tomography device, comprising a tunnel to receive baggage, an x-ray source providing an x-ray beam that intersects the tunnel and has a beam angle of 120°, a gantry that oscillates relative to the tunnel through an oscillation angle that equals 270°, and a plurality of detectors. The plurality of detectors are mounted to the gantry and adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source. In addition, the plurality of detectors are arranged in a horseshoe-shaped configuration in which at least one first detector is located a furthest distance from the x-ray source and at least one second detector is disposed on each side of the at least one first detector and is disposed closer to the x-ray source than the at least one first detector.
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Citations
88 Claims
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1. A computed tomography device, comprising:
-
a tunnel to receive baggage;
an x-ray source providing an x-ray beam that intersects the tunnel and has a beam angle of 120°
;
a gantry that oscillates relative to the tunnel through a rotation angle that equals at least 270° and
is less than 360°
; and
a plurality of detectors mounted to the gantry and adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source, the plurality of detectors being arranged in a horseshoe-shaped configuration in which at least one first detector is located a furthest distance from the x-ray source, and at least one second detector is disposed on each side of the at least one first detector and is disposed closer to the x-ray source than the at least one first detector.
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2. A computed tomography system, comprising:
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a tunnel to receive at least one object;
a wide-angle x-ray source providing an x-ray beam that intersects the tunnel and has a beam angle of greater than 80°
;
a gantry that is movable relative to the tunnel; and
a plurality of detectors mounted to the gantry and adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computed tomography device, comprising:
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a tunnel to receive at least one object;
an x-ray source providing an x-ray beam that intersects the tunnel;
a gantry that is movable relative to the tunnel; and
a plurality of detectors mounted to the gantry and adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source, the plurality of detectors comprising at least first and second detectors mounted to the gantry such that the first detector is disposed a first distance from the x-ray source and the second detector is disposed a second distance from the x-ray source, wherein the first and second distances are different. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. An computed tomography system, comprising:
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an envelope having a sufficiently small size to allow it to be integrated into an airline check-in desk;
an x-ray source disposed within the envelope; and
a plurality of detectors disposed within the envelope and adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source.
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52. An assembly, comprising:
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at least one passenger check-in counter; and
an x-ray screening system at least partially integrated within the at least one check-in counter. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A method of processing an airline passenger, comprising acts of:
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checking in an airline passenger at a check-in desk; and
while checking in the airline passenger, simultaneously scanning an item of luggage of the passenger at the check-in desk using an x-ray screening system. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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72. A computed tomography system, comprising:
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a tunnel to receive at least one object;
a gantry that is movable relative to the tunnel;
a wide-angle x-ray source mounted to the gantry and providing an x-ray beam that intersects the tunnel and has a beam angle greater than 80°
; and
a plurality of detectors mounted to the gantry and adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source, wherein the plurality of detectors comprises first, second and third detectors mounted to the gantry such that the first detector is disposed a first distance from the x-ray source, the second detector is disposed a second distance from the x-ray source, and the third detector is disposed a third distance from the x-ray source, wherein the first and second distances are different, wherein the first and third distances are the same, and wherein each of the first and third distances is shorter than the second distance.
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76. A method of selecting components for use in producing a computed tomography (CT) system, comprising an act of:
(A) selecting a wide-angle x-ray source having a beam angle of greater than 80°
so that an external envelope of the CT system can be minimized.
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81. An assembly of detectors for use in a computed tomography (CT) system comprising an x-ray source, the assembly of detectors comprising:
a plurality of detectors adapted to receive x-rays from the x-ray source, the plurality of detectors comprising at least first and second detectors arranged so that the x-rays travel a first distance from the x-ray source to the first detector and the x-rays travel a second distance from the x-ray source to the second detector, wherein the first and second distances are different.
Specification