Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for scanning X-ray tomography

US4730350A · kind A · utility

42Cited by
9References
27Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 21, 1986
Grant dateMar 8, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 21, 2006

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N2223/612
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Tomographic or sectional X-ray images (46) of a subject (32) are obtained rapidly by a method and apparatus that do not inherently require motion of the X-ray source (12) and detectors (13) or motion of the subject in order to generate the tomographic image data. In the source, a charged particle beam (17) is directed to a broad target plate (18) and raster scanned to produce a moving X-ray origin point (19). X-ray count values are obtained at a plurality of spaced apart detection points (D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7) situated at the opposite side of the subject from the source. Successive count values from a first detection point are combined with successive count values from at least one other detection point that originated at a later time in the course of the raster scan to provide a sequence of composite data values. Display of an image of at least a portion of the raster scan which exhibits variations between successive values of the composite data provides an image in which data from a specific plane (31a, 31b) within the subject is emphasized while data from other planes is suppressed. The apparatus may be compact and inexpensive in comparsion with tomographic installations t…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.