The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 25, 2014
Filed:
Jul. 03, 2012
Martin Annis, Cambridge, MA (US);
Martin Annis, Cambridge, MA (US);
Martin Annis Patent Trust - 2009, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A method of improving the detection of nuclear weapons in cargo containers. The container moves through an imaging region. An x-ray source emits a cone beam through the imaging region and to two or more detector columns, each detector column defining a fan beam. This hardware combines (1) the use of at least two detector assemblies, (2) use of both the current method and the photon counting method to determine x-ray intensities, and (3) use of large detector elements to increase the measured x-ray intensity by a typical factor of 270. The x-ray intensity for a pixel is read by each detector assembly at the appropriate time and the resulting x-ray intensities from each detector assembly are summed. A method of detecting a nuclear weapon includes identifying the nuclear device as the area of the image wherein a high absorption area is surrounded by a lower absorption area.