IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0515479
(2006-09-01)
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등록번호 |
US-7369640
(2008-05-06)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Seppi,Edward J.
- Marc,Marcel
- Ford,John
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출원인 / 주소 |
- Varian Medical Systems Technologies, Inc.
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대리인 / 주소 |
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
38 인용 특허 :
74 |
초록
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In one example, a scanning unit for examining contents of a cargo container is disclosed comprising a first path through the scanning unit for transport of a cargo container and one or more sources of respective beams of radiation. At least one of the one or more sources are movable across a second
In one example, a scanning unit for examining contents of a cargo container is disclosed comprising a first path through the scanning unit for transport of a cargo container and one or more sources of respective beams of radiation. At least one of the one or more sources are movable across a second path transverse to the first path. The second path extends partially around the first path. The scanning unit further comprises a detector extending partially around the first path. The detector is positioned to detect radiation interacting with the cargo container during scanning, such as radiation transmitted through the container. The at least one source and the detector are positioned so that the cargo container is transportable along the first path, between the source and the detector. A transport system may be provided to convey the object through the scanning unit, along the first path.
대표청구항
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We claim: 1. A scanning system for examining contents of an object movable along a first path, the scanning system being positioned, at least in part, above an opening in the ground, the system comprising: one or more sources of radiation, at least one of the one or more sources being movable along
We claim: 1. A scanning system for examining contents of an object movable along a first path, the scanning system being positioned, at least in part, above an opening in the ground, the system comprising: one or more sources of radiation, at least one of the one or more sources being movable along a single, second path transverse to the first path, the second path extending at least partially around the first path; and a detector extending partially around the first path, the detector being positionable at least partially in the opening in the ground and to detect radiation interacting with the object during scanning; wherein the at least one source and the detector are positioned so that the object is transportable along the first path, between the source and the detector. 2. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein the object is supported by a vehicle; and the detector and the at least one source of radiation are positioned to allow the object and the vehicle to be transported therebetween. 3. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein, during operation: the detector is positionable, at least in part, beneath the first path, below ground; and the at least one source is positionable above the first path. 4. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein the second path is arcuate. 5. The scanning system of claim 4, further comprising: an arcuate rail along the arcuate second path; wherein the at least one source is coupled to the arcuate rail. 6. The scanning system of claim 5, wherein the at least one source is movable with respect to the rail. 7. The scanning system of claim 5, wherein the rail is movable to move the at least one source along the second path. 8. The scanning system of claim 5, wherein the arcuate rail forms at least part of a circle. 9. The scanning system of claim 4, wherein the second path is at least partially circular. 10. The scanning system of claim 1, comprising at least one energy sensitive detector. 11. The scanning unit of claim 1, further comprising a processor electrically coupled to the detector, the processor being programmed to reconstruct computed tomography images based, at least in part, on data received from the detector. 12. The scanning system of claim 11, wherein: the second path and the detector extend sufficiently around the object to collect sufficient data for computed tomographic imaging. 13. The scanning system of claim 1, further comprising a transport system to convey the object through the scanning unit, along the first path. 14. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one sources is a linear accelerator. 15. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein the at least one source is mechanically movable across the second path. 16. The scanning system of claim 15, comprising: a plurality of sources, each mechanically movable across the single path. 17. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein the detector is stationary. 18. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein the at least one source is adapted to generate radiation of at least 1 MeV. 19. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein: the object is a cargo container; and the at least one source and the detector are positioned to scan a cargo container having a height and/or width of at least about 1.5 meters. 20. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the one or more sources are adapted to scan the object with two different energy distributions. 21. The scanning system of claim 20, wherein at least one of the one or more sources are operational to selectively switch between emitting radiation having a first energy distribution and radiation having a second energy distribution different than the first energy distribution. 22. The scanning system of claim 20, wherein at least one of the one or more sources emits radiation having a first energy distribution and at least one of the one or more sources emits radiation having a second energy distribution different than the first energy distribution. 23. The scanning system of claim 20, further comprising a second, energy sensitive, detector; wherein the first detector is between the second detector and the at least one source. 24. The scanning system of claim 23, further comprising a processor electrically coupled to the first detector and the second detector, the processor being programmed to: reconstruct computed tomography images based on data received from the first detector; reconstruct energy based images based on data received from the second detector; and fuse the images based on data from the first detector with the images based on the data received from the second detector. 25. The scanning system of claim 1, wherein the detector is positioned to detect radiation transmitted through the object. 26. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector is positioned, at least in part, in the opening in the ground, during operation. 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the single second path is, at least in part, above the opening in the ground. 28. The scanning unit of claim 1, wherein: the detector has an arcuate shape; a portion of the ground in the opening has a shape matching the arcuate shape of the detector; and a portion of the detector that is positionable in the opening is positioned adjacent the arcuate shaped portion of ground, during scanning. 29. A method of examining contents of an object, comprising: moving at least one radiation source along a continuous two-dimensional path extending only partially around an object; scanning at least a portion of the object with at least one radiation beam from the at least one radiation source at a plurality of angles; detecting radiation interacting with the object by a detector positioned at least partially below ground; and reconstructing images based, at least in part, on the detected radiation from the at least one radiation source along the continuous two-dimensional path. 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: processing data based on the detected radiation to form computed tomographic images of at least the portion of the object. 31. The method of claim 29, comprising: moving the at least one source in a first direction along the two-dimensional path; and moving the object along a second path in a second direction transverse to the first direction. 32. The method of claim 29, wherein the detector is a stationary detector, the method further comprising: detecting radiation transmitted through the object by the stationary detector. 33. The method of claim 29, comprising: scanning the object with a radiation beam having a first energy distribution; and scanning the object with a radiation beam having a second energy distribution different from the first energy distribution. 34. The method of claim 33, comprising: detecting radiation with a first, spatial detector; detecting radiation with a second, energy sensitive, detector; and processing data based on the detected radiation from the first and second detectors to form respective computed tomographic images of the object. 35. The method of claim 34, comprising: fusing corresponding computed tomographic images from the radiation detected from the first and second detectors. 36. The method of claim 29, wherein the object is a cargo container, the method comprising scanning a cargo container having a height and/or width of at least about 1.5 meters. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the cargo container is supported by a vehicle during scanning. 38. The method of claim 29, comprising: moving the at least one source along a single arc extending only partially around the object. 39. The method of claim 29, comprising: moving the at least one radiation source along a rail. 40. The method of claim 39, wherein: the rail extends only partially around the object. 41. A scanning unit for examining contents of a cargo container movable along a first path, the scanning unit comprising: a plurality of sources of radiation, at least some of the plurality of sources being configured to irradiate the cargo container with a cone beam of radiation and being movable along a continuous second path transverse to the first path, the second path being semi-circular and extending at least partially around the first path; and a semi-circular detector extending at least partially around the first path, the detector being positioned to detect radiation interacting with the cargo container during scanning; wherein: the second, semi-circular path lies along a first imaginary circle; the semi-circular detector lies along a second imaginary circle larger than the first imaginary circle; the first imaginary circle lies, at least in part, within the second imaginary circle; and the at least some of the plurality of sources and the detector are positioned so that the cargo container is transportable along the first path, between the at least some of the plurality of sources and the detector. 42. A scanning unit for examining contents of a cargo container movable along a first path, the scanning unit comprising: one or more sources of radiation configured to generate at least one cone beam of radiation, at least one of the one or more sources being movable along a two-dimensional second path substantially transverse to the first path, the second path extending at least partially around the first path; and a first, spatial detector extending at least partially around the first path, the detector being positioned to detect radiation from the at least one of the one or more sources of radiation along the two-dimensional second path, interacting with the cargo container during scanning; a second, energy sensitive detector extending at least partially around the first path, the detector being positioned to detect radiation from the at least one of the one or more sources of radiation along the two-dimensional second path, interacting with the cargo container during scanning; and a processor to fuse images derived from the first, spatial detector with images derived from the second, energy sensitive detector; wherein the at least one source and the first and second detectors are positioned so that the cargo container is transportable along the first path, between the one or more sources and the first and second detectors. 43. The scanning unit of claim 42, wherein the first detector is between the second detector and at least one of the at least one source. 44. A scanning unit for examining contents of an object movable along a first path, the scanning unit comprising: one or more sources of radiation, at least one of the one or more sources being movable along a continuous two-dimensional second path substantially transverse to the first path, the second path being semi-circular and extending only partially around the first path; and a stationary detector extending only partially around the first path, the detector being positioned to detect radiation, from the one or more sources along the continuous two-dimensional second path, interacting with the object during scanning; wherein: the second, semi-circular path lies along a first imaginary circle; the semi-circular detector lies along a second imaginary circle larger than the first imaginary circle; the first imaginary circle lies, at least in part, within the second imaginary circle; the at least one source and the detector are positioned so that the cargo container is transportable along the first path, between the one or more sources and the detector; and both the second semi-circular path and the semi-circular detector extend over respective arcs, each arc being greater than 180 degrees, to collect sufficient data for computed tomographic reconstruction. 45. The scanning unit of claim 44, wherein the second semicircular path extends over an arc of at least 210 degrees. 46. The scanning unit of claim 44, wherein the detector extends over an arc of at least 210 degrees. 47. The scanning unit of claim 44, wherein the second semicircular path and the detector each extend over an arc of 200 degrees. 48. A scanning unit for examining contents of an object movable along a first path, the scanning unit comprising: a rail transverse to the first path; a plurality of sources of radiation coupled to the rail, at least some of the plurality of sources being movable along a second path transverse to the first path along the rail; a detector array positioned to detect radiation interacting with the object during scanning, the detected radiation originating from at least certain of the plurality of sources along the rail; wherein: the plurality of sources and the detector array are positioned so that the object is transportable along the first path, between the plurality of sources and the detector array; and one or more of the at least certain sources are configured to emit radiation beams that partially overlap at least one respective radiation beam emitted by an adjacent radiation source on a portion of the detector array; the scanning unit further comprising a processor configured to turn on at the same time only those radiation sources of the one or more of the at least certain sources that emit radiation beams that do not overlap on portions of the detector array, during scanning. 49. The scanning unit of claim 48, wherein the second path extends only partially around the first path. 50. The scanning unit of claim 48, wherein the second path is a two dimensional path and the rail is configured to move the at least some of the plurality of sources along at least one dimension of the two-dimensional path. 51. The scanning unit of claim 48, wherein: the processor is configured to turn on alternate ones of the one or more of the at least certain sources at the same time. 52. The scanning unit of claim 51, wherein the processor is configured to turn on a first set of non-adjacent sources at first times and a second set of non-adjacent sources at second, different times, as the sources are moved across the second path. 53. The scanning unit of claim 48, wherein the detector is arcuate. 54. The scanning unit of claim 48, wherein the second path is arcuate.
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