System and Method for Real Time Dual Energy X-Ray Image Acquisition

摘要

An improved system and method for using dual energy techniques for acquiring x-ray images in two and three dimensions is disclosed. An X-ray source and detector are mounted at opposite ends of a movable C-arm. A fast movement mechanism is provided to quickly and precisely move the C-arm and detector in stepped motion about a patient. Low and high energy X-ray images are taken at each discrete step point, followed by fast movement of the source and detector to a next position with respect to the patient. Motion artifacts are eliminated by taking the high and low energy X-ray images while the C-arm is stopped. High and low energy pulses are provided through the use of a filtration arrangement which is synchronized with the frame rate of the detector to thereby optimize image collection. The resulting pairs of images are superposed to enable high resolution viewing of the region(s) of interest. Mechanical motion of the C-arm is synchronized using fast robotics to apply the technique to 3-dimensional imaging.