Accent Pro 2000 (Romania)

In order to significantly reduce the computing time while, at the same time, keeping the accuracy and precision when determining the local values of the density and effective atomic number necessary for identifying various organic material, including explosives and narcotics, a specialized multi-stage procedure based on a multi-energy computed tomography investigation within the 20–160 keV domain was elaborated. It consisted of a compensation for beam hardening and other non-linear effects that affect the energy dependency of the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) in the chosen energy domain, followed by a 3D fast reconstruction algorithm capable of reconstructing the local LAC values for 64 energy values from 19.8 to 158.4 keV, and, finally, the creation of a set of algorithms permitting the simultaneous determination of the density and effective atomic number of the investigated materials. This enabled determining both the density and effective atomic number of complex objects in approximately 24 s, with an accuracy and precision of less than 3%, which is a significantly better performance with respect to the reported literature values.

A novel portable and autonomous X-ray dual-energy Radioscopy equipment, developed for bomb squad interventions and NDT applications and capable of in-situ digital radiography imaging with measurement of the effective Atomic number of materials (Z eff ), is presented. The system consists of a 2D dual-energy X-ray detector based on a rapidly translated linear array, a portable X-ray source and dedicated software running on a laptop or tablet PC. By measurement of the collected x-ray intensities at two different energy spectra, the system can directly compute the material Z eff value for various organic materials contained in the scanned object and then identify them from a database list. The entire system calibration has been obtained using explosive simulants with known Z eff values, the measurement error of Z eff being around ±3.5 % with respect to the reference values. The excellent image resolution and the ability of the automated threat identification algorithm are presented for experiments with a briefcase and a hand-held baggage having various domestic objects and an explosive simulant inside.

The aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary check of a new method for measuring the 3D catheter position based on only one X-Ray view (image) and a simple pre-calibration procedure for catheters that could be equipped with high-opacity equal-spaced markers. The application chosen for this experiment is the targeted delivery of cell based therapeutic via a transendocardial retrograde approach into the left ventricle. This approach has shown promising therapeutic retention data when injected directly into the myocardial tissue, but lacks in the ability of the user to confidently manipulate the catheter within the left ventricle cavity space under traditional fluoroscopic guidance using a needle based catheter. The need for a new technique arose from the potential for increased safety and therapeutic efficacy by improving the targeting of the agent. The new technique, destined for Image guided catheter navigation systems for cardiac interventions, is based on a measurement of the marker's size and distance between them and followed by a comparison with the referenced catheter position. Preliminary experiments made with a simple phantom are presented, emphasizing the ability of the new technique in measuring the markers and the catheter tip 3D position. An overall maximum error in positioning markers and catheter tip below 12% has been obtained, yielding a promising result for continuing the future work of improving the algorithm accuracy.