Scatter Attenuation Tomography
First Claim
1. An x-ray inspection system for characterizing an object on the basis of a measure of attenuation substantially transverse to an incident beam, the x-ray inspection system comprising:
- a source for generating an incident beam of penetrating radiation, the incident beam characterized by a propagation direction and an energy distribution;
a plurality of detector elements disposed about the beam of penetrating radiation, each detector element characterized by a field of view, each detector element generating a detector signal;
a processor input adapted to receive a first detector signal characterizing radiation scattered from a first voxel, and to receive a second detector signal characterizing radiation scattered from a second voxel; and
a processor adapted to determine material composition based upon a calculated attenuation of scattered penetrating radiation, in a direction substantially transverse to the incident beam of penetrating radiation, between the first voxel and the second voxel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and methods for characterizing an inspected object on the basis of attenuation determined from pair-wise illuminated voxels. A beam of penetrating radiation characterized by a propagation direction and an energy distribution is scanned relative to an object, while scatter detectors with collimated fields-of-view detect radiation scattered by each voxel of the inspected object that is intercepted by the incident beam of penetrating radiation. By calculating the attenuation of penetrating radiation between pairs of voxels illuminated sequentially by the incident beam, a tomographic image is obtained characterizing the three-dimensional distribution of attenuation in the object of one or more energies of penetrating radiation, and thus of various material characteristics.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An x-ray inspection system for characterizing an object on the basis of a measure of attenuation substantially transverse to an incident beam, the x-ray inspection system comprising:
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a source for generating an incident beam of penetrating radiation, the incident beam characterized by a propagation direction and an energy distribution; a plurality of detector elements disposed about the beam of penetrating radiation, each detector element characterized by a field of view, each detector element generating a detector signal; a processor input adapted to receive a first detector signal characterizing radiation scattered from a first voxel, and to receive a second detector signal characterizing radiation scattered from a second voxel; and a processor adapted to determine material composition based upon a calculated attenuation of scattered penetrating radiation, in a direction substantially transverse to the incident beam of penetrating radiation, between the first voxel and the second voxel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for characterizing an object on the basis of a measure of attenuation substantially transverse to an incident beam, the method comprising:
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generating an incident beam of penetrating radiation, the incident beam characterized by a propagation direction and an energy distribution; detecting radiation scattered by a first pair of distinct voxels illuminated by the incident beam; detecting radiation scattered by a second pair of distinct voxels illuminated by the incident beam; receiving a first detector signal characterizing radiation scattered from a first voxel and a second detector signal characterizing radiation scattered from a second voxel of each of the first and second pairs of voxels; and determining material composition based upon a calculated attenuation of scattered penetrating radiation, in a direction substantially transverse to the incident beam of penetrating radiation, between the first voxel and the second voxel of each pair of voxels. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification