X-RAY IMAGER WITH SPARSE DETECTOR ARRAY
First Claim
1. An inspection system, comprising:
- an inspection area;
at least one x-ray source adapted to emit x-ray radiation into the inspection area; and
a sparse detector array positioned to receive x-ray radiation from the at least one x-ray source after passing through the inspection area, wherein the sparse detector array includes a plurality of rows of detector elements, wherein at least some of the plurality of rows are separated by gaps such that the at least some of the plurality of rows are non-contiguous.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for imaging objects with a sparse detector array that includes fewer detectors than conventional x-ray scanning systems. The sparse detector array is positioned to receive x-ray radiation from the at least one x-ray source after passing through an inspection area. The sparse detector array includes a plurality of rows of detector elements, wherein at least some of the plurality of rows are separated by gaps such that the at least some of the plurality of rows are non-contiguous. An iterative reconstruction process is used to determine a volumetric image of the object from the radiation measurements recorded by the detectors in the sparse detector array.
13 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An inspection system, comprising:
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an inspection area; at least one x-ray source adapted to emit x-ray radiation into the inspection area; and a sparse detector array positioned to receive x-ray radiation from the at least one x-ray source after passing through the inspection area, wherein the sparse detector array includes a plurality of rows of detector elements, wherein at least some of the plurality of rows are separated by gaps such that the at least some of the plurality of rows are non-contiguous. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer-implemented method for deriving a volumetric image of an object in an inspection area of an x-ray system, wherein the x-ray system includes a sparse detector array having a plurality of non-contiguous rows of detector elements, the method comprising:
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receiving at the detector elements in the sparse detector array, a plurality of radiation measurements indicating amounts of radiation passing through the object from different directions, wherein the plurality of radiation measurements include sparsely-spaced measurements in a fan-beam direction of radiation passing through the object; and performing at least one iteration of an iterative reconstruction process from the plurality of radiation measurements to derive the volumetric image of the object. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. An inspection system, comprising:
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at least one x-ray source positioned to emit x-ray radiation toward an inspection area in a tunnel, wherein the tunnel includes a conveyor configured to enable an object placed thereon to pass through the inspection area; and a sparse detector array positioned to receive the x-ray radiation passing through the object, wherein the sparse detector array includes a plurality of rows of detector elements, wherein the detector elements in each row are oriented along the moving direction of the conveyor, and wherein the sparse detector array includes gaps between at least some of the plurality of rows in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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Specification