Method and apparatus for imaging using penetrating radiant energy provides a resulting image with elements of intensity related to atomic number. A penetrating radiant energy source is used for generating a flying spot. A first detector is located to be responsive to transmitted energy, e.g. the flying spot traverses the first detector. A second detector is located substantially coplanar with the first detector to be responsive to scattered energy, as the flying spot scans a target. The signals produced by the first and second detectors are combined to produce an image array having elements of intensity related to atomic number. A method and apparatus for non-invasively measuring density using the apparatus already recited, is also disclosed.
This is a continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 691,737, filed on Jan. 16, 1985, and abandoned Apr. 15, 1986, which is a continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 426,380, filed on Sept. 29, 1982, now abandoned.
An x-ray backscatter tomography system includes a collimated x-ray source for directing a collimated beam towards a target at a select position and orientation, a first detector array for measuring photons scattered at a selected first angle, and a second detector array for measuring photons scattered at a selected second angle different from the first angle. The system is also responsive to the first and second detectors for calculating the density and atomic number of the target.
A method for implementing sliding-window image processing for associative operators such as MIN, MAX, AND, and OR is disclosed. For one dimension, the present method divides the image into blocks according to the sliding window size and for each block calculates two sets of partial results, one working from the left boundary of the block and the other working from the right boundary of the block. The partial results from two adjacent blocks can then be combined in one operation to give a final value for any window straddling two adjacent blocks. The total number of operations is proportional to 3M; where M is the scan length as compared to (n-1)M using prior art; where n is the length of the sliding window. The present invention can be extended to two-dimensional arrays and can be extended to support arbitrary window sizes.
An apparatus and method for enhancing an image of penetrating radiation scattered by objects concealed within a container. An image derived from penetrating radiation transmitted through the container is combined with a scatter image in regard to which it is accurately registered in such a manner as to provide enhanced visibility and photorealism of the combined image.
The invention concerns a method and arrangement for measuring the bone mineral content in the skeleton in a body part, which is irradiated from one side with X-radiation which is detected on the opposite side of the body part. The X-radiation has two energy levels, the detected radiation is analyzed and the thickness of the body part is determined. The analysis takes account of the thickness of the body part and in order to calibrate the measuring process, a reference object of known composition is measured. The arrangement comprises: means (3) for generating X-radiation at two energy levels which means is disposed on one side (2a) of a casing (2) whose shape is adapted to that of the body part and which means is directed towards the latter. A radiation-detector matrix (4) disposed on the opposite side (2b) of the casing detects the X-radiation received. The distance-measuring devices (50 are coupled with an image and signal-processing unit (7) and are disposed inside the casing (2) on opposite sides of said body part. The image and signal-processing unit (7) is arranged such that the bone mineral content is determined by a combination of the signals recorded in the detector matrix (4) and the signals received from the distance-measuring devices (5) with respect to the measurement on the body part and the measurement on the reference object of known composition.
Methods and apparatus for precise and consistent selection of bone mineral content (BMC) measurement regions of selected bones, and accurate calculation of BMC from a displayed radiological image of the bones, calculate the position of the styloid tip of each bone, define a measurement region having selected positional correspondence to the position of the styloid tip, and sum pixel intensity values in the measurement region to yield a pixel intensity sum representative of bone mineral content. Bone density values are obtained by dividing the pixel intensity sum by a value representative of the areas of the measurement region, to yield a value representative of bone density. The position of the styloid tip is calculated by detecting selected transverse image edges, searching along the selected transverse image edges to determine a set of pixels which define extremities of the styloid tip, and defining a line substantially tangent to the styloid tip.
