System and method for preparing an image corrected for the presence of a gravity induced distortion

1. An imaging system for obtaining a reduced error image that is correctable for the presence of a gravity induced image error, said imaging system comprising:

an imager to obtain an image of an object, the objected being in a suspended state;

at least two markers displaced from one another by a distance attached to the object;

a position measurement device providing object position data indicative of positions of the markers; and

a computer configured to determine a direction of a gravity vector based on the object position data,

wherein deviation of parallelism between the gravity vector and a sensor-based normal is determined by the position measurement device,

wherein the imager is rotated to eliminate the deviation of parallelism between the gravity vector and a sensor-based normal of a sensor-based coordinate system, and

wherein the reduced error image of the objected is taken by the imager.

2. An imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the imager includes multiple optical axes intersecting at a point to define a plane.

3. An imaging system according to claim 2 , wherein the sensor-based normal is perpendicular to the plane.

4. An imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the markers are energy emitting markers having a known spatial relationship with respect to the imager.

5. An imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the position measurement device comprises receivers to determine the positions of the markers.

6. An imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the object is suspended by a wire.

7. An imaging system according to claim 3 , wherein an x-axis of a gravity-based three-dimensional coordinate system is aligned parallel with a horizontal axis of the imager.

8. An imaging system according to claim 7 , wherein an x-axis of a sensor-based three dimensional coordinate system is parallel to the plane.

9. An imaging system according to claim 8 , wherein the deviation of parallelism between the gravity vector and the sensor-based normal is based on an angular deviation of the sensor-based coordinate system relative to the gravity-based coordinate system.

10. An imaging system according to claim 9 , wherein the reduced error image is obtained by rotation of the sensor-based coordinate system relative to the gravity-based coordinate system as determined by the computer processing signals corresponding to the deviation of parallelism detected by the position measurement device.

11. An imaging system according to claim 1 , wherein the imager is an x-ray apparatus and the image is an x-ray image of an animal.

12. A method imaging system for obtaining a reduced error image that is correctable for the presence of a gravity induced image error, said method comprising the steps of:

attaching at least two markers displaced from one another by a distance onto an object to be imaged by an imager;

suspending the objected such that the object is movable;

obtaining object position data indicative of positions of the markers by a position measurement device;

determining a direction of a gravity vector based on the object position data;

determining a deviation of parallelism between the gravity vector and a sensor-based normal of a sensor-based coordinate system;

rotating the imager to eliminate the deviation of parallelism between the gravity vector and a sensor-based normal of a sensor-based coordinate system; and

taking the reduced error image of the objected by the imager.

13. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the imager includes multiple optical axes intersecting at a point to define a plane.

14. A method according to claim 13 , wherein the sensor-based normal is perpendicular to the plane.

15. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the markers are energy emitting markers having a known spatial relationship with respect to the imager.

16. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the position measurement device comprises receivers to determine the positions of the markers.

17. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the object is suspended by a wire.

18. A method according to claim 14 , wherein an x-axis of a gravity-based three-dimensional coordinate system is aligned parallel with a horizontal axis of the imager.

19. A method according to claim 18 , wherein an x-axis of the sensor-based three dimensional coordinate system is parallel to the plane.

20. A method according to claim 19 , wherein the deviation of parallelism between the gravity vector and the sensor-based normal is based on an angular deviation of the sensor-based coordinate system relative to the gravity-based coordinate system.

21. A method according to claim 20 , wherein a reduced error image is obtained by rotation of the sensor-based coordinate system relative to the gravity-based coordinate system as determined by the computer processing signals corresponding to the deviation of parallelism detected by the position measurement device.

22. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the imager is an x-ray apparatus and the image is an x-ray image of an animal.