Multi energy X-ray microscope data acquisition and image reconstruction system and method

摘要

A multi energy, such as dual-energy (“DE”), x-ray imaging system data acquisition and image reconstruction system and method enables optimizing the image contrast of a sample. Using the DE x-ray imaging system and its associated user interface applications, an operator performs a low energy (“LE”) and high energy (“HE”) x-ray scan of the same volume of interest of the sample. The system creates a low-energy reconstructed tomographic volume data set from the set of low-energy projections and a high-energy tomographic volume data set from the set of high-energy projections. This enables the operator to control the image contrast of selected slices, and apply the information associated with optimizing the contrast of the selected slice to all slices in the low-energy and high-energy tomographic data sets. This creates a combined volume data set from the LE and HE volume data sets with optimized image contrast throughout.

主权项

1. An x-ray imaging system, comprising:
an x-ray source system for generating a high energy x-ray beam and a low energy x-ray beam; a sample holder for rotating a sample in the high energy x-ray beam and the low energy x-ray beam from the x-ray source system to perform a low-energy scan and a high-energy scan of the sample; a detector system for detecting the high energy x-ray beam and the low energy x-ray beam after transmission through the sample to generate projection data; a computer system generating a low-energy reconstructed tomographic volume data set from the low-energy scan and generating a high-energy reconstructed tomographic volume data set from the high-energy scan from the projection data, rendering simultaneous slice views from the low-energy and high-energy reconstructed tomographic volume data sets and presenting a mathematically combined synthetic slice, presenting an interactive graphic for displaying a two-dimensional slice selection from the low-energy and high-energy reconstructed tomographic volume data sets, rendering a low-energy slice view from the low-energy reconstructed tomographic volume data set and a high-energy slice view from the high-energy reconstructed tomographic volume data set for the same region of the sample, in response to user selection of a slice view within the two-dimensional slice selection graphic, creating a two-dimensional histogram of high-energy x-ray pixel intensity values versus low-energy x-ray pixel intensity values based on the selected slice in which intensity of points on the histogram is associated with a count of voxels with the low-energy and high-energy pixel intensity values respectively, and displaying the histogram.