Imaging system and method using scattered and diffused radiation

Abstract

An imaging system generates images of the interior of an object using radiation which is attenuated and scattered by the interior of the object. The object is radiated at a number of points near the exterior of the object, and the radiation emerging from the object is measured at an array of exit points near the exterior of the object. The interior of the object is modelled as an array of volume elements called voxels. Each voxel is modelled as having scattering and attenuation properties, represented by numerical coefficients. The system computes the intensity of radiation that would emerge from the object at the exit points if the interior of the object were characterized by a currently assigned set of values for the scattering and attenuation coefficients. Then, the differences between the measured intensities and the computer intensities are used to compute an error function relates to the magnitude of the errors in the reconstruction. This error function is then minimized using a gradient descent methodology, i.e., the value of the coefficients are modified so as to reduce the value of the error function. The coefficients are repeatedly updated in this manner until the error function falls below a specified threshold value. The final values of the scattering and attenuation coefficients from this process are mapped so as to generate a series of images of the interior of the object depicting the attenuation and scattering characteristcs of the object's interior.