Method and apparatus for transmitting information about a target object between a prescanner and a CT scanner

An explosive detection system comprising:

• a) a scanner having an output to provide scan data of an item under inspection;
• b) an operator display having an input to receive data representative of an image to display for an operator;
• and
• c) at least one processor coupled to the output of the scanner to receive scan data and coupled to the input of the operator display, the at least one processor being programmed to, based on the scan data:
• i) process the scan data to produce data representative of a two dimensional projection of at least a portion of the item;
• ii) identify at least one object in the item;
• iii) provide to the display data representative of an image that comprises the two dimensional projection;
• iv) process the scan data to generate a computed tomographic representation of at least a portion of the item;
• and
• v) augment the data representative of the two dimensional projection based on information obtained from the computed tomographic representation.

A method for analyzing an item, comprising acts of:

• a) analyzing scan data that provides a projection of the item to determine a value of at least one first characteristic of at least one object in the item;
• b) selecting, based on the projection, a region of the item;
• c) performing a computed tomographic reconstruction of the selected region to produce a reconstructed representation of the selected region;
• and
• d) modifying the value determined for the at least one first characteristic of the at least one object in the act (a) based on the reconstructed representation.