Covert surveillance using multi-modality sensing
First Claim
1. A method for obtaining an atomic number (Z) of each material contained in an object being scanned by a covert mobile inspection vehicle comprising:
- a backscatter X-ray scanning system comprising an X-ray source and a plurality of detectors for obtaining a radiographic image of the object;
at least one sensor for determining a distance from at least one of the plurality of detectors to points on a surface of the object; and
a processor for processing the obtained radiographic image by using the determined distance of the object to obtain an atomic number of each material contained in the object;
the method comprising the steps of;
determining a boundary of each region of the radiographic image by using a statistical filter;
calculating a standard deviation of energies of pixels present in each region;
calculating a product of the obtained standard deviation and a mean of the energies of pixels present in each region; and
comparing the calculated product to a pre-determined scale where a low value of the product corresponds to a low Z material and a high value of the product corresponds to a high Z material.
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Abstract
The present specification discloses a covert mobile inspection vehicle with a backscatter X-ray scanning system that has an X-ray source and detectors for obtaining a radiographic image of an object outside the vehicle. The systems preferably include at least one sensor for determining a distance from at least one of the detectors to points on the surface of the object being scanned, a processor for processing the obtained radiographic image by using the determined distance of the object to obtain an atomic number of each material contained in the object, and one or more sensors to obtain surveillance data from a predefined area surrounding the vehicle.
304 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for obtaining an atomic number (Z) of each material contained in an object being scanned by a covert mobile inspection vehicle comprising:
- a backscatter X-ray scanning system comprising an X-ray source and a plurality of detectors for obtaining a radiographic image of the object;
at least one sensor for determining a distance from at least one of the plurality of detectors to points on a surface of the object; and
a processor for processing the obtained radiographic image by using the determined distance of the object to obtain an atomic number of each material contained in the object;
the method comprising the steps of;determining a boundary of each region of the radiographic image by using a statistical filter; calculating a standard deviation of energies of pixels present in each region; calculating a product of the obtained standard deviation and a mean of the energies of pixels present in each region; and comparing the calculated product to a pre-determined scale where a low value of the product corresponds to a low Z material and a high value of the product corresponds to a high Z material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
- a backscatter X-ray scanning system comprising an X-ray source and a plurality of detectors for obtaining a radiographic image of the object;
Specification