Methods and system for selective resolution improvement in computed tomography

A method for computed tomography (CT) based detection of contraband, the method comprising:

• defining a target range of CT values corresponding to contraband;
• receiving by a computer scan data representative of a scanned object from a CT scanning system;
• reconstructing by the computer the scan data using a first algorithm to create a first set of reconstructed data, the first set of reconstructed data comprising a plurality of regions having a plurality of CT values;
• identifying within the first set of reconstructed data at least one region having a CT value within the target range;
• reconstructing by the computer at least one portion of the scan data using a second algorithm to create at least one additional set of reconstructed data, each portion of the at least one portion corresponding to one region of the at least one identified region, the at least one additional set of reconstructed data comprising a plurality of regions having a plurality of CT values;
• and
• inspecting by the computer the at least one additional set of reconstructed data to detect a presence of potential contraband in the scanned object.

A computed tomography (CT) control system for detecting contraband according to a first range of CT values and a second range of CT values, the CT control system comprising:

• a data acquisition system (DAS) configured to acquire, from a detector array, scan data representing a scanned object;
• an image reconstructor communicatively coupled to the DAS and configured to produce reconstructed data from the acquired scan data using a plurality of algorithms;
• and
• a computer operatively coupled to the image reconstructor, the computer configured to:
• acquire from the image reconstructor a first set of reconstructed data produced from the acquired scan data using a first algorithm;
• identify within the first set of reconstructed data at least one region having a CT value within the first range of CT values;
• acquire from the image reconstructor a second set of reconstructed data produced from the acquired scan data using a second algorithm, the second set of reconstructed data corresponding to the at least one identified region;
• and
• identify within the second set of reconstructed data at least one region having a CT value within the second range of CT values.