X-ray tomographic inspection systems for the identification of specific target items
The present specification discloses an X-ray scanning system with a non-rotating X-ray scanner that generates scanning data defining a tomographic X-ray image of the object and a processor executing programmatic instructions where the executing processor analyzes the scanning data to extract at least one parameter of the tomographic X-ray image and where the processor is configured to determine if the object comprises a liquid, sharp object, narcotic, currency, nuclear materials, cigarettes or fire-arms.
1. An X-ray scanning system comprising:
a. a non-rotating X-ray scanner that generates scanning data defining a tomographic X-ray image of the object; and
b. a processor executing programmatic instructions wherein said executing processor analyzes the scanning data to extract at least one parameter of the tomographic X-ray image and wherein said processor is configured to determine if said object is a bottle containing a liquid.
2. The X-ray scanning system of claim 1 wherein said processor executes programmatic instructions to allocate the object to one of a plurality of categories on the basis of the at least one parameter.
3. The X-ray scanning system of claim 2 wherein said programmatic instructions comprise at least one parameter extractor for identifying at least one predefined feature in the tomographic X-ray image wherein said predefined feature comprises a plurality of low level parameters of the X-ray image.
4. The X-ray scanning system of claim 3 wherein said programmatic instructions comprise at least one decision tree for constructing high level parameters based upon the identified low level parameters of the X-ray image.
5. The X-ray system of claim 4 wherein said high level parameters include a contiguous volume, a predetermined shape, or a mean reconstructed density of the contiguous volume.
6. The X-ray scanning system of claim 4 further comprising a database search tool for mapping the constructed high level parameters of the X-ray image to predefined data stored in a database.
7. The X-ray scanning system of claim 6 further comprising an alarm system for activating an alarm based on a result of said mapping, wherein said alarm defines an object as being a potential threat or not a potential threat.
8. The X-ray scanning system as claimed in claim 3 wherein the at least one parameter extractor is configured to operate on one 2-dimensional images, 3-dimensional images or sinogram image data.
9. An X-ray scanning system comprising:
a. a non-rotating X-ray scanner that generates scanning data defining a tomographic X-ray image of the object; and
b. a processor executing programmatic instructions wherein said executing processor analyzes the scanning data to extract at least one parameter of the tomographic X-ray image and wherein said processor is configured to determine if said object comprises a sharp object.
10. The X-ray scanning system of claim 9 wherein said processor executes programmatic instructions to allocate the object to one of a plurality of categories on the basis of the at least one parameter.
11. The X-ray scanning system of claim 10 wherein said programmatic instructions comprise at least one parameter extractor for identifying at least one predefined feature in the tomographic X-ray image wherein said predefined feature comprises a plurality of low level parameters of the X-ray image.
12. The X-ray scanning system of claim 11 wherein said programmatic instructions comprise at least one decision tree for constructing high level parameters based upon the identified low level parameters of the X-ray image.
13. The X-ray system of claim 12 wherein said high level parameters include a structure having a predefined length to width aspect ratio or a predefined repeating structure.
14. The X-ray scanning system of claim 12 further comprising a database search tool for mapping the constructed high level parameters of the X-ray image to predefined data stored in a database.
15. The X-ray scanning system of claim 14 further comprising an alarm system for activating an alarm based on a result of said mapping, wherein said alarm defines an object as being a potential threat or not a potential threat.
16. The X-ray scanning system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the at least one parameter extractor is configured to operate on one 2-dimensional images, 3-dimensional images or sinogram image data.
17. An X-ray scanning system comprising:
a. a non-rotating X-ray scanner that generates scanning data defining a tomographic X-ray image of the object; and
b. a processor executing programmatic instructions wherein said executing processor analyzes the scanning data to extract at least one parameter of the tomographic X-ray image and wherein said processor is configured to determine if said object comprises a narcotic, currency, nuclear materials, cigarettes or fire-arms.
18. The X-ray scanning system of claim 17 wherein said processor executes programmatic instructions to allocate the object to one of a plurality of categories on the basis of the at least one parameter.
19. The X-ray scanning system of claim 17 wherein said programmatic instructions comprise at least one parameter extractor for identifying at least one predefined feature in the tomographic X-ray image wherein said predefined feature comprises a plurality of low level parameters of the X-ray image.
20. The X-ray scanning system of claim 19 wherein said programmatic instructions comprise at least one decision tree for constructing high level parameters based upon the identified low level parameters of the X-ray image.
21. The X-ray system of claim 20 wherein said high level parameters include structures having a predefined length to width aspect ratio or a predefined repeating structure.
22. The X-ray scanning system of claim 20 further comprising a database search tool for mapping the constructed high level parameters of the X-ray image to predefined data stored in a database.
23. The X-ray scanning system of claim 22 further comprising an alarm system for activating an alarm based on a result of said mapping, wherein said alarm defines an object as being a potential threat or not a potential threat.
24. The X-ray scanning system as claimed in claim 19 wherein the at least one parameter extractor is configured to operate on one 2-dimensional images, 3-dimensional images or sinogram image data.