X-ray imaging system
US6018565A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 5, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jan 25, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 5, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S378/901
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An x-ray imaging system provides automatic adjustment of x-ray tube voltage and current based on an identification and removal of background pixels in the image and a calculation of the functional relationship between voltage and current and dose for the particular imaged object as deduced from two exposures at different voltages. Real-time image distortion removal and image rotation are accomplished by computer processing using a generalized image transformation polynomial. Scatter in the image is reduced by calculating a scatter map based on a blurring of the received image and normalizing the scatter map to point scatter measurements made with an x-ray occluder eliminating direct exposure of certain areas of the image. Improved signal to noise ratio in a moving x-ray image is provided by averaging stationary portions of the image over a longer time than the moving portions of the image. A non-linear white compression function further reduced image noise by transforming the raw image to a gray scale having equal noise intervals.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.