Radiation-shielding, interpolative-sampling technique for high spatial resolution digital radiography

A method for obtaining a continuous, high resolution digital x-ray image, comprising:

• exposing soft tissue of a patient to a source of x-rays,
• obtaining an image of x-rays transmitted through said patient tissue on a flat-panel imager, wherein said rays pass through a radiation multiaperture collimator interposed between said patient and said source, said imager having pixels and said radiation multiaperture collimator having apertures provided in exact alignment with each pixel of said imager, having a diameter about one-half of a pixel, moving said imager and multiaperture collimator synchronously a distance of one-half of one pixel, obtaining a second exposure, repositioning said multiaperture collimator and imager again by moving them synchronously one-half of one pixel and obtaining a third exposure, and synchronously repositioning said multiaperture collimator and imager a third time by one-half of one pixel, to obtain a fourth image, and
• interpolating said four images together to create a complete, continuous high resolution image.

A digital radiography apparatus, comprising an x-ray source, a flat-panel imager with a plurality of pixel cells, and a x-ray opaque multiaperture collimator between said x-ray source and an object to be imaged, wherein said multiaperture collimator is provided with an array of apertures in exact alignment with each said pixel, each said aperture having a diameter of about one-half a pixel diameter, said apparatus further comprising translation apparatus for moving said multiaperture collimator and said flat-panel imager a distance of one-half of one pixel in each of three sequential translations, and data processing means for combining images obtained from said imager initially, and on each successive translation.