General Electric Company

Shankar Visvanathan Guru

Peter Michael Edic

Reinhold Franz Wirth

Harry Kirk Mathews, Jr

Rasiklal Punjalal Shah

Armin H Pfoh

Abdalmajeid Musa Alyassin

Vipin Kewal Ramani

Allan John Connolly

Randal Vincent Dusing

An apparatus and a method of processing a collection of uncorrected radiographs are described with the apparatus comprising an X-ray scatter compensator and a controller. The compensator is configured for iteratively generating a refined value of a normalized estimated X-ray scatter signal corresponding to an uncorrected radiograph of said collection of uncorrected radiographs. The controller is configured to be coupled to the compensator and further configured to subtract said refined value of said normalized estimated X-ray scatter signal from a corresponding normalized total X-ray signal of a respective one of said uncorrected radiographs so as to form a corresponding corrected radiograph.

Iterative X-ray scatter correction method and apparatus

A method and apparatus are provided for assessing performance of an imaging system. The imaging system has a performance assessment apparatus that comprises a system performance computer configured to execute a performance assessment algorithm. The performance assessment computer is coupled to receive signals from the detector assembly of the imaging array in a plurality of imaging system operating modes so as to identify disparities between actual system performance and nominal system performance for respective ones of the imaging system operating modes and to provide respective system performance output signals. The method of the present invention for assessing performance of an imaging system includes the steps of collecting signals representative of detected radiation incident on the detector assembly of the imaging system; processing the detected radiation signals in accordance with a performance assessment algorithm so as to identify disparities between detected actual system performance and nominal system performance for a respective one of the imaging system operation modes; and generating a system performance output signal corresponding to the respective system operating mode.

Method and apparatus for assessing the performance of an x-ray imaging system

A collimator for use in a radiation imaging system , and a method for making such collimators, are provided, wherein the collimator is capable of collimating radiation in two orthogonal planes. The collimator in one embodiment includes a block of radiation absorbing material having a plurality of focally aligned channels extending therethrough; in a second embodiment, the collimator includes first and second collimation sections having a respective first plurality of focally aligned plate sets and a respective second plurality of focally aligned plate sets disposed orthogonally to the first plurality of plate sets. The method for making the collimator includes generating a CAD drawing, generating from the CAD drawing one or more stereo-lithographic files, and using the stereo-lithographic files to control an electro-deposition machining machine which creates the channels in the block.

Radiation imager collimator

A collimator for use in a radiation imaging system and a method for making such collimators, are provided, wherein the collimator is capable of collimating radiation in two orthogonal planes. The collimator in one embodiment includes a block of radiation absorbing material having a plurality of focally aligned channels extending therethrough; in a second embodiment, the collimator includes first and second collimation sections having a respective first plurality of focally aligned plate sets and a respective second plurality of focally aligned plate sets disposed orthogonally to the first plurality of plate sets. The method for making the collimator includes generating a CAD drawing, generating from the CAD drawing one or more stereo-lithographic files, and using the stereo-lithographic files to control an electro-deposition machining machine which creates the channels in the block.

In predicting failure of an x-ray tube in a computed tomography (CT) system, reference detector elements normally disposed on each end of the detector, receive x-rays directly from the x-ray tube. In accordance with the invention, the output values of the reference detector elements are utilized by a tube condition prediction algorithm to predict a failure in the x-ray tube of the CT system. The tube condition prediction algorithm utilizes at least one model of the CT system and at least one prediction routine, which typically is a Kalman filter, to generate the prediction. The prediction routine uses the model to analyze the output values of the reference detector elements in order to determine the condition of the x-ray tube and predict future performance of the x-ray tube.

Method and apparatus for predicting x-ray tube failures in computed tomography systems

A system is provided for identifying faults in a non-OEM computed tomography system having components in connection with the detectors to reconstruct an image. Then, correlation values are derived from baseline reference data files and current data files collected after a fault is suspected in the CT system. The correlation values are compared against a threshold to identify suspect detectors and a pattern recognition algorithm is applied to determine if the suspect detectors are faulty or if one of the components processing the output signals has failed. If baseline files are unavailable, the identification of faulty components is accomplished by performing correlation between the current data files and average profile values.

Method and system for diagnosing faults in imaging scanners

A collimator,for use in a radiation imaging system,and a method for making such collimators, are provided, wherein the collimator,is capable of collimating radiation in two orthogonal planes. The collimator in one embodiment includes a block,of radiation absorbing material having a plurality of focally aligned channels,extending therethrough; in a second embodiment, the collimator includes first and second collimation,sections having a respective first plurality of focally aligned plate sets,and a respective second plurality of focally aligned plate sets 203 disposed orthogonally to the first plurality of plate sets. The method for making the collimator includes generating a CAD drawing, generating from the CAD drawing one or more stereo-lithographic files, and using the stereo-lithographic files to control an electro-deposition machining machine which creates the channels in the block.

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Brookfield, WI, United States of America

Shankar Visvanathan Guru