# US 10,441,240 B2 · Method and system for configuring an X-ray imaging system

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- Number: US 10,441,240 B2
- Document ID: US10441240B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/319,810
- Filed: 2015-06-29
- Published: 2017-05-18
- Granted: 2019-10-15
- Earliest claimed: 2014-06-30
- Assignees: Agfa NV
- Applicants: Agfa NV
- Inventors: Gert Merckx
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10441240B2

## CPC

- A61B 6/547: {involving tracking of position of the device or parts of the device}
- A61B 6/0487: {Motor-assisted positioning}
- A61B 6/08: Auxiliary means for directing the radiation beam to a particular spot, e.g. using light beams
- A61B 6/542: {involving control of exposure}
- A61B 6/545: {involving automatic set-up of acquisition parameters}
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)

## Abstract

A method of monitoring a radiation amount received from an X-ray source in an X-ray imaging system for taking an X-ray image of an object includes the steps of obtaining one or more depth images from one or more depth cameras; the one or more depth cameras covering at least an area covered by an X-ray bundle of an X-ray source of the X-ray imaging system; positioning the object against or on a surface including radiation measurement chambers and identifying select radiation measurement chambers underneath the object from the one or more depth images and/or from a single depth image derived from the one or more depth images; and activating the select radiation measurement chambers.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of monitoring a radiation amount received from an X-ray source in an X-ray imaging system for taking an X-ray image of an object, the method comprising the steps of:
obtaining one or more depth images from one or more depth cameras, the one or more depth cameras covering at least an area covered by an X-ray bundle of the X-ray source of the X-ray imaging system;
positioning the object against or on a surface including radiation measurement chambers;
identifying select ones of the radiation measurement chambers underneath the object from the one or more depth images and/or from a single depth image derived from the one or more depth images; and
activating only the select ones of the radiation measurement chambers to measure the radiation amount received from the X-ray source.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
determining a size of the object in the one or more depth images or in the single depth image obtained from the one or more depth images; and
determining a resizing configuration of the X-ray imaging system from the size of the object, from a desired size of the object in the X-ray image, and from a known geometric relationship between the one or more depth cameras and the X-ray imaging system.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein the resizing configuration includes a diaphragm reconfiguration of the X-ray imaging system.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein the resizing configuration includes a distance reconfiguration of the X-ray imaging system indicative of a reconfiguration of a distance between the X-ray source and the object.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of determining a resizing configuration includes:
determining a size of the area in the one or more depth images or in the single depth image;
calculating a desired size of the area such that a size of the object with respect to the desired size of the area corresponds to the desired size of the object in the X-ray image; and
converting a difference between the desired size of the area and the size of the area to the resizing configuration using the known geometric relationship.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of:
determining a position of the object with respect to the area in the one or more depth images and/or in the single depth image;
determining a position change of the object relative to the area according to a desired position of the object with respect to the area; and
converting the position change to a position reconfiguration using the known geometric relationship.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the object is a portion of a bigger object, the object falls outside the one or more depth images, the bigger object is partially in the one or more depth images and/or in the single depth image derived from the one or more depth images, and the step of determining the position further comprises:
determining a position of the bigger object with respect to the area in the one or more depth images and/or in the single depth image; and
deriving the position of the object from the position of the bigger object and a known position relationship between the object and the bigger object.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the object is a portion of a human body including a skeleton and joints, and the step of determining the position of the object includes:
determining a position of the joints of the skeleton in the one or more depth images and/or in the single depth image derived from the one or more depth images; and
deriving the position of the object from the position of the joints and a known position relationship between the object and the joints.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of:
applying the resizing configuration and/or the position reconfiguration to the X-ray imaging system.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein the steps are performed iteratively.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
calculating a thickness of the object from the one or more depth images or from the single depth image obtained from the one or more depth cameras; and
converting the thickness to a dose configuration of the X-ray imaging system taking into account a transmission length of the x-ray bundle emitted by the X-ray source through the object and knowledge about tissue types being imaged.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, wherein step of calculating the thickness and the step of converting the thickness are performed after a step of applying a resizing configuration and/or a position reconfiguration to the X-ray imaging system.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method according claim 11, wherein the thickness is calculated along an optical axis of the X-ray source.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of calculating the thickness further includes:
calculating a distance between a point on the object and a background behind the object, and the background is at a known distance from the object.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method according to claim 14, wherein the background is a surface against which or on top of which the object is positioned.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more depth cameras includes an aligned camera including an optical axis aligned or substantially aligned with an optical axis of the X-ray source.