Detecting contraband by employing interactive multiprobe tomography
DCFirst Claim
1. An inspection system for detecting a specific material of interest in items of baggage or packages, comprising:
- a multi-view X-ray inspection probe constructed to employ X-ray radiation transmitted through or scattered from an examined item to identify a suspicious region inside said examined item;
said multi-view X-ray inspection probe constructed to identify said suspicious region using several examination angles of said transmitted or scattered X-ray radiation, and also constructed to obtain spatial information of said suspicious region and to determine a geometry for subsequent examination;
an interface system constructed and arranged to receive from said X-ray inspection probe data providing said spatial information and said geometry;
a directional, material sensitive probe connected to and receiving from said interface system said spatial information and said geometry;
said material sensitive probe constructed to acquire material specific information about said suspicious region by employing said geometry; and
a computer constructed to process said material specific information to identify presence of said specific material in said suspicious region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inspection system for detecting a specific material of interest in items of baggage or packages includes a multi-view X-ray inspection probe and one or more material sensitive probes. The multi-view X-ray inspection probe employs X-ray radiation transmitted through or scattered from an examined item to identify a suspicious region inside the item. An interface is used to receive from said X-ray inspection probe X-ray data providing spatial information about the suspicious region and to provide this information to a selected material sensitive probe. The material sensitive probe then acquires material specific information about the previously-identified suspicious region and provides it to a computer. The computer uses a high level detection algorithm to identify presence of the specific material in the suspicious region. The material sensitive probe may be a directional probe such as a coherent scatter probe, or a non-directional probe such as a Compton scatter probe or an NQR probe. The detection algorithm can automatically employ the different probes operating in a preferred geometry. The inspection system may also include a graphical interface and an operator interface that enable interactive communication with the detection algorithm.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. An inspection system for detecting a specific material of interest in items of baggage or packages, comprising:
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a multi-view X-ray inspection probe constructed to employ X-ray radiation transmitted through or scattered from an examined item to identify a suspicious region inside said examined item;
said multi-view X-ray inspection probe constructed to identify said suspicious region using several examination angles of said transmitted or scattered X-ray radiation, and also constructed to obtain spatial information of said suspicious region and to determine a geometry for subsequent examination;an interface system constructed and arranged to receive from said X-ray inspection probe data providing said spatial information and said geometry; a directional, material sensitive probe connected to and receiving from said interface system said spatial information and said geometry;
said material sensitive probe constructed to acquire material specific information about said suspicious region by employing said geometry; anda computer constructed to process said material specific information to identify presence of said specific material in said suspicious region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 38)
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13. An inspection system for detecting a specific material of interest in items of baggage or packages, comprising:
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a multi-view X-ray inspection probe constructed to employ X-ray radiation transmitted through or scattered from an examined item to identify a suspicious region inside said examined item;
said multi-view X-ray inspection probe constructed to identify said suspicious region using several examination angles of said transmitted or scattered X-ray radiation, and also constructed to obtain spatial information of said suspicious region and to determine a geometry for subsequent examination;an interface system constructed and arranged to receive from said X-ray inspection probe data providing said spatial information and said geometry; a material sensitive probe connected to and receiving from said interface system said spatial information and said geometry;
said material sensitive probe constructed to acquire material specific information about said suspicious region by employing said geometry; anda computer constructed to process said material specific information to identify presence of said specific material in said suspicious region. - View Dependent Claims (14, 39)
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15. An X-ray inspection method of detecting a specific material of interest in items of baggage or packages, comprising:
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employing X-ray radiation transmitted through or scattered from an examined item to obtain multi-view spatial information about the examined item; identifying from said spatial information a suspicious region inside said examined item, said identifying step being performed by employing several examination angles of said transmitted or scattered X-ray radiation; determining a geometry for subsequent examination; employing a directional, material sensitive probe using said geometry to acquire material specific information about said suspicious region; and identifying, based on computer-processing, presence of said specific material in said suspicious region. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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29. An X-ray inspection method of detecting a specific material of interest in items of baggage or packages, comprising:
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employing X-ray radiation transmitted through or scattered from a examined item to obtain multi-view spatial information about the examined item; identifying from said spatial information a suspicious region inside said examined item, said identifying step being performed by employing several examination angles of said transmitted or scattered X-ray radiation; determining a geometry for subsequent examination; employing a material sensitive probe using said geometry to acquire material specific information about said suspicious region; and identifying, based on computer-processing, presence of said specific material in said suspicious region. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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Specification