Claims
- 1. A method of imaging comprising:
- generating a plurality of x-ray beams emanating from different locations on an x-ray source, the locations forming a pattern of rows on the x-ray source;
- receiving x-rays that have passed through an object from each of the generated x-ray beams with an arrangement of detectors;
- capturing information indicative of an x-ray absorbency of the object to be imaged from each detector for each x-ray beam;
- obtaining imaging information about each image pixel in the object to be imaged by combining the information indicative of the x-ray absorbency of the object at each image pixel to be imaged from a plurality of detectors, the plurality of detectors each intersected by a line defined by a different location on the x-ray source and the image pixel for which imaging information is desired;
- forming an image from the imaging information wherein the image comprises a plurality of rows of pixels, and wherein a number of pixels in at least one row of the plurality of rows of pixels is greater than the number of locations in at least one row of locations on the x-ray source.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of generating comprises scanning an electron beam across an x-ray target and generating an x-ray beam at each of the different locations on the x-ray target.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein each image pixel lies on a same plane.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of capturing information indicative of the x-ray absorbency of the object to be imaged by each detector from each x-ray beam comprises counting a number of x-ray photons received by each detector.
- 5. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of passing the x-ray beams through an array of x-ray transmissive areas of a collimator prior to passing the x-ray beams through the object to be imaged.
- 6. The method of claim 5 wherein each of the x-ray transmissive areas comprise a longitudinal axis, each longitudinal axis intersecting the arrangement of detectors substantially at a center of the arrangement of detectors.
- 7. The method of claim 5 wherein the x-ray transmissive areas are substantially cylindrical in shape.
- 8. The method of claim 5 wherein the x-ray transmissive areas are substantially square in shape.
- 9. The method of claim 5 wherein the arrangement of detectors is arranged in a substantially pseudo-circular pattern.
- 10. The method of claim 5 wherein the imaging information is provided to a monitor for generating an image having an array of pixels.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein a ratio of a total number of x-ray transmissive areas to a total number of pixels is less than 1.
- 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the arrangement of detectors is arranged in a substantially pseudo-circular pattern.
- 13. A method of imaging comprising:
- generating a plurality of x-ray beams emanating from a plurality of positions form an x-ray source, the positions forming a plurality of rows;
- passing the plurality of x-ray beams through an object to be imaged;
- detecting each x-ray beam of the plurality of x-ray beams with an arrangement of detectors;
- generating a plurality of image pixels from the plurality of x-ray beams detected by the arrangement of detectors,
- forming a representation of the object from the plurality of image pixels wherein the representation comprises a plurality of positions each of which represents an x-ray absorbency of the object at an image pixel of said plurality of image pixels, and wherein a number of positions in at least one row on the x-ray source is less than a number of positions in a row of the plurality of positions comprising said representation.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said step of generating a plurality of x-ray beams comprises scanning an electron beam across an x-ray target and generating an x-ray beam at each of the plurality of positions on the x-ray target.
- 15. The method of claim 13 wherein each image pixel lies on a same plane.
- 16. The method of claim 13 further comprising a step of passing the plurality of x-ray beams through an array of x-ray transmissive areas of a collimator prior to passing the plurality of x-ray beams through the object to be imaged.
- 17. The method of claim 16 wherein each of the x-ray transmissive areas comprise a longitudinal axis, each longitudinal axis intersecting the arrangement of detectors substantially at a center of the arrangement of detectors.
- 18. The method of claim 16 wherein the representation is provided to a monitor for generating an image having an array of pixels.
- 19. The method of claim 18 wherein a ratio of a total number of x-ray transmissive areas to a total number of pixels in the array of pixels is less than 1.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent Ser. No. 08/419,730 filed on Apr. 10, 1995, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,612, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/386,861 filed on Feb. 10, 1995 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,047, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 375,501, filed on Jan. 17, 1995 now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/042,742, filed Apr. 5, 1993, now abandoned; of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/342,641, filed Nov. 21, 1994, now abandoned which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/008,455, filed Jan. 25, 1993, now abandoned; and, of International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US94/03737, filed Apr. 5, 1994, which designated the United States from which priority is claimed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. .sctn..sctn.120 and 365, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
US Referenced Citations (108)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 229 497 |
Jul 1987 |
EPX |
Related Publications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
342641 |
Nov 1994 |
|
Continuations (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
419730 |
Apr 1995 |
|
Parent |
386861 |
Feb 1995 |
|
Parent |
42742 |
Apr 1993 |
|
Parent |
08455 |
Jan 1993 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
375501 |
Jan 1995 |
|