Apparatus and method for high dynamic range counting by pixelated detectors

1. An apparatus for generating a hybrid image by high dynamic range counting, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

acquire an image from a pixelated detector,

obtain a sparsity map of the acquired image, the sparsity map indicating low-flux regions of the acquired image and high-flux regions of the acquired image,

generate a low-flux image and a high-flux image based on the sparsity map,

perform event analysis of the acquired image based on the low-flux image and the high-flux image, the event analysis including detecting, within the low-flux image, incident events by an electron counting mode,

multiply, by a normalization constant, resulting intensities of the high-flux image and the detected incident events of the low-flux image, the multiplying normalizing intensity per detected incident event between the low-flux image and the high-flux image, and

generate the hybrid image by merging the low-flux image and the high-flux image.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sparsity map is a predetermined sparsity map.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to calculate the sparsity map of the acquired image by

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, and

assigning, to a single pixel within the group of pixels of the acquired image, a sparsity map value based on the evaluation, wherein

a corresponding pixel value below the pixel value threshold indicates a low-flux region, and

a corresponding pixel value above the pixel value threshold indicates a high-flux region.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to calculate the sparsity map of the acquired image by

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, and

assigning, to a plurality of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image, a sparsity map value based on the evaluation, wherein

a corresponding pixel value below the pixel value threshold indicates a low-flux region, and

a corresponding pixel value above the pixel value threshold indicates a high-flux region.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to assign the sparsity map value based on the evaluation by

determining a pixel ratio of the group of pixels of the acquired image, the pixel ratio defining a number of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image above the pixel value threshold relative to a number of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image below the pixel value threshold.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to calculate the sparsity map of the acquired image by

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, the group of pixels of the acquired image being one or more groups of pixels of the acquired image and the pixel value threshold being unique to each of the one or more groups of pixels of the acquired image.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate the low-flux image and the high-flux image by

applying, based on the sparsity map, a mask to the acquired image, the applied mask assigning values to pixels of the acquired image representative of the low-flux regions of the acquired image and the high-flux regions of the acquired image.

8. A method for generating a hybrid image by high dynamic range counting, comprising:

acquiring, by processing circuitry, an image from a pixelated detector;

obtaining, by the processing circuitry, a sparsity map of the acquired image, the sparsity map indicating low-flux regions of the acquired image and high-flux regions of the acquired image;

generating, by the processing circuitry, a low-flux image and a high-flux image based on the sparsity map;

performing, by the processing circuitry, event analysis of the acquired image based on the low-flux image and the high-flux image, the event analysis including detecting, within the low-flux image, incident events by an electron counting mode;

multiplying, by the processing circuitry and by a normalization constant, resulting intensities of the high-flux image and the detected incident events of the low-flux image, the multiplying normalizing intensity per detected incident event between the low-flux image and the high-flux image; and

generating, by the processing circuitry, the hybrid image by merging the low-flux image and the high-flux image.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the sparsity map is a predetermined sparsity map.

10. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising calculating the sparsity map of the acquired image by

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, and

assigning, to a single pixel within the group of pixels of the acquired image, a sparsity map value based on the evaluation, wherein

a corresponding pixel value below the pixel value threshold indicates a low-flux region, and

a corresponding pixel value above the pixel value threshold indicates a high-flux region.

11. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising calculating the sparsity map of the acquired image by

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, and

assigning, to a plurality of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image, a sparsity map value based on the evaluation, wherein

a corresponding pixel value below the pixel value threshold indicates a low-flux region, and

a corresponding pixel value above the pixel value threshold indicates a high-flux region.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the assigning the sparsity map value based on the evaluation includes

determining a pixel ratio of the group of pixels of the acquired image, the pixel ratio defining a number of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image above the pixel value threshold relative to a number of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image below the pixel value threshold.

13. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the calculating the sparsity map of the acquired image includes

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, the group of pixels of the acquired image being one or more groups of pixels of the acquired image and the pixel value threshold being unique to each of the one or more groups of pixels of the acquired image.

14. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the generating the low-flux image and the high-flux image includes

applying, based on the sparsity map, a mask to the acquired image, the applied mask assigning values to pixels of the acquired image representative of the low-flux regions of the acquired image and the high-flux regions of the acquired image.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of generating a hybrid image by high dynamic range counting, comprising:

acquiring an image from a pixelated detector;

obtaining a sparsity map of the acquired image, the sparsity map indicating low-flux regions of the acquired image and high-flux regions of the acquired image;

generating a low-flux image and a high-flux image based on the sparsity map;

performing event analysis of the acquired image based on the low-flux image and the high-flux image, the event analysis including detecting, within the low-flux image, incident events by an electron counting mode;

multiplying, by a normalization constant, resulting intensities of the high-flux image and the detected incident events of the low-flux image, the multiplying normalizing intensity per detected incident event between the low-flux image and the high-flux image; and

generating the hybrid image by merging the low-flux image and the high-flux image.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 , wherein the sparsity map is a predetermined sparsity map.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 , further comprising calculating the sparsity map of the acquired image by

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, and

assigning, to a single pixel within the group of pixels of the acquired image, a sparsity map value based on the evaluation, wherein

a corresponding pixel value below the pixel value threshold indicates a low-flux region, and

a corresponding pixel value above the pixel value threshold indicates a high-flux region.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 , further comprising calculating the sparsity map of the acquired image by

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, and

assigning, to a plurality of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image, a sparsity map value based on the evaluation, wherein

a corresponding pixel value below the pixel value threshold indicates a low-flux region, and

a corresponding pixel value above the pixel value threshold indicates a high-flux region.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 18 , wherein the assigning the sparsity map value based on the evaluation includes

determining a pixel ratio of the group of pixels of the acquired image, the pixel ratio defining a number of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image above the pixel value threshold relative to a number of pixels within the group of pixels of the acquired image below the pixel value threshold.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 , wherein the calculating the sparsity map of the acquired image includes

evaluating, for each pixel within a group of pixels of the acquired image, a corresponding pixel value relative to a pixel value threshold, the group of pixels of the acquired image being one or more groups of pixels of the acquired image and the pixel value threshold being unique to each of the one or more groups of pixels of the acquired image.