X-ray Cargo Inspection Image Correction via Parasitic Displacement Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
X-ray cargo inspection systems face image quality degradation due to parasitic displacements of detectors and cargo speed inhomogeneity, leading to artefacts and distorted images in both mobile and pass-through modes.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a scanner with a matrix of detectors to generate images for each row, determine local parasitic displacements, and create a corrected image by summing these displacements, thereby correcting for vertical, rotational, and pendulum movements without requiring expensive mechanical compensation or prior image processing hypotheses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If mechanical compensation devices are used to reduce parasitic movements of the detector matrix, then image quality improves, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical compensation devices with a computational approach. The system uses software algorithms to detect and correct parasitic displacements by analyzing position information from detectors and processing unit, thereby eliminating the need for expensive and complex mechanical stabilization systems while maintaining image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational process that mediates between the physical detector displacements and the final image. The processing unit acts as an intermediary that receives raw detector data, calculates parasitic displacements based on position information, and applies corrections before generating the final image, thus resolving the contradiction without mechanical intervention.
2Measurement precision
If mechanical compensation devices are used to reduce parasitic movements of the detector matrix, then image quality improves, but device cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive mechanical compensation hardware with a cost-effective software-based solution. By using computational methods to detect and correct parasitic displacements through position information analysis, the system achieves high image quality without the substantial cost of precision mechanical stabilization equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs inexpensive computational resources and standard detector position information rather than expensive precision mechanical components. The software-based correction method uses readily available data from the detection system itself, eliminating the need for costly specialized hardware while achieving the desired image quality.
3Loss of time
If image processing based on prior hypotheses is used to correct parasitic displacements, then correction speed improves, but accuracy deteriorates due to incorrect assumptions affecting image parts that do not require correction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback-based correction system that uses actual position information from the detectors to determine parasitic displacements. Rather than applying fixed corrections based on hypotheses, the system continuously monitors detector positions and applies corrections tailored to the actual measured displacements, ensuring both speed and accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local correction strategies where corrections are calculated and applied specifically to the affected regions of the image based on actual parasitic displacement measurements. This avoids the problem of global hypothesis-based corrections that incorrectly modify unaffected image areas, thereby maintaining both speed and local accuracy.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Improves image quality by accurately correcting for parasitic movements, enhancing the clarity and accuracy of cargo inspections without the need for heavy mechanical compensation or incorrect image processing assumptions.
Implementation Method 1
detecting, with the scanner, radiation generated by a plurality of successive X ray pulses irradiating the cargo
Implementation Method 2
detecting, with the scanner, radiation generated by a plurality of successive X ray pulses irradiating the cargo
Data Source
AI summary
A method for inspecting cargo with is disclosed. The method includes scanning the cargo with a matrix including at least two rows of detectors, wherein each zone of the cargo irradiated by a first X ray pulse is irradiated by at least one second X ray pulse, and a radiation corresponding to the first X ray pulse is detected by a first row of the matrix, and a radiation corresponding to the at least one second pulse is detected by at least one second row of the matrix, generating a first image of the cargo and at least one second image of the cargo, determining, for each zone of the cargo irradiated, a local mutual parasitic displacement between the cargo and the matrix, determining a total mutual parasitic displacement, and generating a corrected image of the cargo without the mutual parasitic displacement.