Detecting and quantifying materials in containers utilizing an inverse algorithm with adaptive regularization
US10078150B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 7, 2016 |
| Grant date | Sep 18, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 2, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N23/10
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method, system and computer program product for automatically detecting and quantifying materials in containers (e.g., luggage, storage containers, equipment or componentry for processing or handling). An X-ray radiograph of a container is generated. A set of materials of interest (e.g., plutonium, steel) is selected to determine if the object comprises or contains materials of interest. An estimate of the areal densities or thicknesses of each of the selected materials of interest is obtained by minimizing an objective function with respect to the areal densities or thicknesses for each of the selected materials of interest. Adaptive regularization is implemented in the objective function to improve optimization results by adding a constraint to the objective function, where the constraint penalizes the objective function for solutions that do not line up with a prior belief about the solution form (e.g., the solution should not be negative or especially noisy).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.