Systems and methods for detecting luggage in an imaging system

A computer-implemented method for detecting luggage in a computed tomography (CT) imaging system, said method implemented using a luggage detection device including a processor coupled to a memory device and to the CT imaging system, said method comprising:

• receiving CT imaging data generated by the CT imaging system;
• generating a plurality of CT imaging slices from the CT imaging data;
• for each of the plurality of CT imaging slices:
• identifying at least one region within the CT imaging slice for removal based on at least one predefined rule;
• modifying the CT imaging slice by removing pixel data associated with the at least one identified region within the CT imaging slice;
• generating a pixel count representing a number of pixels in the modified CT imaging slice wherein each pixel in the number of pixels has a pixel value above a predefined threshold pixel value;
• and
• generating an object indicator representing whether luggage is detected in the CT imaging system based on a determination that the generated pixel count is above a predefined threshold pixel count;
• and
• displaying to a user the at least one of the plurality of CT image slices based on the presence of the corresponding object indicator.

At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to:

• receive CT imaging data generated by the CT imaging system;
• generate a plurality of CT imaging slices from the CT imaging data;
• for each of the plurality of CT imaging slices:
• identify at least one region within the CT imaging slice for removal based on at least one predefined rule;
• modify the CT imaging slice by removing pixel data associated with the at least one identified region within the CT imaging slice;
• generate a pixel count representing a number of pixels in the modified CT imaging slice wherein each pixel in the number of pixels has a pixel value above a predefined threshold pixel value;
• and
• generate an object indicator representing whether luggage is detected in the CT imaging system based on a determination that the generated pixel count is above a predefined threshold pixel count;
• and
• display to a user the at least one of the plurality of CT image slices based on the presence of the corresponding object indicator.