ESTIMATING OPTIMAL RADIATION DOSE FOR X-RAY DIAGNOSTIC IMAGE

1 . A system for estimating an optimal radiation dose comprising:

a scouting image circuit configured to cause an x-ray sensor to operate at a first gain setting to capture a scouting image using a scouting image radiation dose;

a radiation dose model configured to provide a diagnostic image radiation dose based on the scouting image; and

a diagnostic image circuit configured to cause the x-ray sensor to operate at a second gain setting to capture a diagnostic image using the provided diagnostic image radiation dose, wherein the second gain setting is less than the first gain setting.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the diagnostic image radiation dose is greater than the scouting image radiation dose.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the radiation dose model is a machine learning algorithm trained on a collection of training scouting images paired with training diagnostic images, the training diagnostic images selected to provide a desired diagnostic image quality.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the radiation dose model is an algorithm, the algorithm configured based on an analysis of a collection of sample scouting images paired with sample diagnostic images, the sample diagnostic images selected to provide a desired diagnostic image quality.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a communications link between a controller and the x-ray sensor, the controller comprising the scouting image circuit and the diagnostic image circuit, wherein the communications link is configured to provide gain settings to the x-ray sensor and radiation dose settings to an x-ray emitter, and to receive the scouting image and the diagnostic image from the x-ray sensor.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the scouting image circuit and diagnostic image circuit comprise a gain control circuit configured to set gain of the x-ray sensor.

7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the scouting image circuit and diagnostic image circuit comprise a dosing control circuit configured to set radiation dose of an x-ray emitter.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the scouting image circuit and the diagnostic image circuit comprise one or more processors and one or more memories encoded with instructions.

9 . An x-ray system comprising the system of claim 1 .

10 . A computer program product including one or more non-transitory machine-readable mediums encoded with instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause a process to be carried out for estimating an optimal radiation dose, the process comprising:

operating an x-ray sensor at a first gain setting;

capturing a scouting image at the first gain setting using a scouting image radiation dose;

employing a radiation dose model to provide a diagnostic image radiation dose based on the scouting image;

operating the x-ray sensor at a second gain setting, the second gain setting less than the first gain setting; and

capturing a diagnostic image using the provided diagnostic image radiation dose.

11 . The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the diagnostic image radiation dose is greater than the scouting image radiation dose.

12 . The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the radiation dose model is a machine learning algorithm trained on a collection of training scouting images paired with training diagnostic images, the training diagnostic images selected to provide a desired diagnostic image quality.

13 . The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the radiation dose model is an algorithm, the algorithm configured based on an analysis of a collection of sample scouting images paired with sample diagnostic images, the sample diagnostic images selected to provide a desired diagnostic image quality.

14 . The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the process further comprises communicating gain settings and radiation dose settings to the x-ray sensor over a communications link and receiving the scouting image and the diagnostic image from the x-ray sensor over a communications link.

15 . An x-ray system comprising the computer program product of claim 10 .

16 . A method for estimating an optimal radiation dose, the method comprising:

operating, by a processor-based system, an x-ray sensor at a first gain setting;

capturing, by the processor-based system, a scouting image at the first gain setting using a scouting image radiation dose;

employing, by the processor-based system, a radiation dose model to provide a diagnostic image radiation dose based on the scouting image;

operating, by the processor-based system, the x-ray sensor at a second gain setting, the second gain setting less than the first gain setting; and

capturing, by the processor-based system, a diagnostic image using the provided diagnostic image radiation dose.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the diagnostic image radiation dose is greater than the scouting image radiation dose.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the radiation dose model is a machine learning algorithm trained on a collection of training scouting images paired with training diagnostic images, the training diagnostic images selected to provide a desired diagnostic image quality.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the radiation dose model is an algorithm, the algorithm configured based on an analysis of a collection of sample scouting images paired with sample diagnostic images, the sample diagnostic images selected to provide a desired diagnostic image quality.

20 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising communicating gain settings to the x-ray sensor and radiation dose settings to an x-ray emitter over a communications link and receiving the scouting image and the diagnostic image from the x-ray sensor over a communications link.