Sidescatter X-ray detection system

Abstract

An edge enhancement X-ray imaging system inspects an object for detecting an illegal component. The system illuminates the object with penetrating radiation which is sidescattered from the object and captured by a pair of radiant detectors. The detectors are symmetrically positioned opposite each other, being adjacent the two sides of the object. Each detector has a detecting surface substantially parallel to the beam for converting sidescattered radiation into a pair of electrical signals which define a location of an edge of the illegal component. In response to the electrical signals, a video display produces a visual image of the edge. In another embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises a pair of backscatter detectors which convert the backscattered radiation into a second pair of electrical signals producing a second visual image on the video display. As a result of superimposing the second image onto the first image associated with the sidescatter detectors, the detection of components of the object is greatly improved.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.