System and method for inspecting containers for target material
First Claim
1. A method for automatically inspecting a container for a target material using a computed tomography (CT) scanning system, said method comprising:
- performing an initial radiographic scan of the container;
identifying, based at least partially on projection data generated during the initial radiographic scan, a first slice plan with at least one location within the container that requires CT inspection;
performing additional single energy scans to acquire additional projection data;
adjusting the first slice plan using the additional projection data;
identifying at least one object of interest using an automatic detection algorithm once the first slice plan requires no more single energy scans;
if the at least one object of interest is identified, generating a second slice plan of the at least one object of interest;
performing a dual energy CT scan of the at least one object of interest, the dual energy CT scan including a low energy scan of the at least one object of interest and a high energy scan of the at least one object of interest;
determining, based at least partially on dual energy scan information generated during the dual energy CT scan, whether the at least one object of interest includes a target material; and
generating an alarm signal for the container if the at least one object of interest includes the target material.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for automatically inspecting a container for a target material using a computed tomography (CT) scanning system includes performing an initial radiographic scan of the container. Based at least partially on projection data generated during the initial radiographic scan, at least one location within the container is identified that requires CT inspection. A dual energy CT scan of the at least one identified location within the container is performed based on a single energy algorithm or a dual energy algorithm. The dual energy CT scan includes a low energy scan of the at least one identified location and a high energy scan of the at least one identified location. Based on dual energy scan information generated during the dual energy CT scan, a determination is made to confirm or clear an alarm corresponding to the at least one identified location within the container.
13 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for automatically inspecting a container for a target material using a computed tomography (CT) scanning system, said method comprising:
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performing an initial radiographic scan of the container; identifying, based at least partially on projection data generated during the initial radiographic scan, a first slice plan with at least one location within the container that requires CT inspection; performing additional single energy scans to acquire additional projection data; adjusting the first slice plan using the additional projection data; identifying at least one object of interest using an automatic detection algorithm once the first slice plan requires no more single energy scans; if the at least one object of interest is identified, generating a second slice plan of the at least one object of interest; performing a dual energy CT scan of the at least one object of interest, the dual energy CT scan including a low energy scan of the at least one object of interest and a high energy scan of the at least one object of interest; determining, based at least partially on dual energy scan information generated during the dual energy CT scan, whether the at least one object of interest includes a target material; and generating an alarm signal for the container if the at least one object of interest includes the target material. - 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)
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27. A computed tomography (CT) scanning system for automatically inspecting a container for a target material, said CT scanning system comprising:
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an X-ray source; an X-ray detector; and a processor, said processor configured to; perform an initial radiographic scan of the container; identify, based at least partially on projection data generated during the initial radiographic scan, a first slice plan with at least one location within the container that requires a single energy CT inspection; adjust the first slice plan as additional single energy scans are performed; identify objects of interest using an automatic detection algorithm once the first slice plan requires no more single energy scans; if at least one object of interest is identified, generate a second slice plan of the at least one object of interest; perform a dual energy CT scan of the at least one identified object of interest, the dual energy CT scan comprising a low energy scan of the at least one identified object of interest and a high energy scan of the at least one identified object of interest; determine whether the at least one object of interest includes a target material based at least partially on dual energy scan information generated during the dual energy CT scan; and generate an alarm signal for the container if the at least one object of interest includes the target material.
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28. A method for automatically inspecting containers for a target material using a computed tomography (CT) scanning system, said method comprising:
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identifying at least one location within a first container that requires CT inspection based at least partially on projection data generated during an initial radiographic scan; performing a dual energy CT scan of the at least one identified location within the first container, the dual energy CT scan including a low energy scan of the at least one identified location and a high energy scan of the at least one identified location; determining whether the at least one identified location includes an object of interest based on data acquired by the dual energy CT scan; when the at least one identified location includes the object of interest, generating an alarm; determining whether a second container is queued for scanning; when the second container is queued for scanning, ejecting the first container from within the CT scanning system for further inspection to determine if the object of interest includes the target material; and when the second container is not queued for scanning, performing a dual energy CT scan of the object of interest within the first container to determine if the object of interest includes the target material.
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Specification