Method and apparatus for performing computed tomography

System for performing computed tomography to detect an internal structure of a plurality of substantially identical parts comprising:

• a radiation source;
• at least one radiation detector spaced from said radiation source, said at least one detector generating an output signal representative of the strength of received radiation from the radiation source;
• a table which supports the plurality of substantially identical parts positioned between said radiation source and said at least one detector;
• at least one of said table and said radiation source being movable relative to the other;
• and
• a processor which receives said output signal from said at least one detector as an input signal and, under program control, generates an output representative of at least a portion of the internal structure of parts supported on the table;
• wherein said table comprises a rotary table, said table being positioned on said rotary table, and an actuator which rotates said table about a predetermined axis;
• wherein said axis is substantially perpendicular to a vector between said radiation source and said detectors;
• a second actuator which moves the table a predetermined increment in the direction of said table axis per revolution of said table.

System for performing computed tomography to detect an internal structure of a plurality of substantially identical parts comprising:

• a radiation source;
• at least one radiation detector spaced from said radiation source, said at least one detector generating an output signal representative of the strength of received radiation from the radiation source;
• a table which supports the plurality of substantially identical parts positioned between said radiation source and said at least one detector;
• at least one of said table and said radiation source being movable relative to the other;
• and
• a processor which receives said output signal from said at least one detector as an input signal and, under program control, generates an output representative of at least a portion of the internal structure of parts supported on the table;
• wherein said computer system is programmed to disregard output signals from said detectors corresponding to said table.

A method for performing computed tomography on a plurality of substantially identical parts to detect an internal structure of the parts using a rotating table positioned between a radiation source and a plurality of radiation detectors, said plurality of detectors producing an output signal representative of the strength of the radiation received by the detectors, comprising the steps of:

• collecting data for the radiation detectors responsive to the plurality of substantially identical parts during revolution of the table for each revolution of the table;
• and
• reconstructing from the collected data an output representative of at least a portion of the internal structure of at least a portion of the parts supported on the table;
• wherein said reconstructing step further comprises the steps of identifying adjacent areas corresponding to voids and merging said identified adjacent areas together.

A method for performing computed tomography on a plurality of substantially identical parts to detect an internal structure of the parts using a rotating table positioned between a radiation source and a plurality of radiation detectors, said plurality of detectors producing an output signal representative of the strength of the radiation received by the detectors, comprising the steps of:

• collecting data for the radiation detectors responsive to the plurality of substantially identical parts during revolution of the table for each revolution of the table;
• and
• reconstructing from the collected data an output representative of at least a portion of the internal structure of at least a portion of the parts supported on the table;
• wherein the axis of the table is substantially perpendicular to a vector between the radiation source and the at least one radiation detectors, and further comprising the step of moving the table a predetermined increment along the axis per revolution of the table.

A method for performing computed tomography on a plurality of substantially identical parts to detect an internal structure of the parts using a rotating table positioned between a radiation source and a plurality of radiation detectors, said plurality of detectors producing an output signal representative of the strength of the radiation received by the detectors, comprising the steps of:

• collecting data for the radiation detectors responsive to the plurality of substantially identical parts during revolution of the table for each revolution of the table;
• reconstructing from the collected data an output representative of at least a portion of the internal structure of at least a portion of the parts supported on the table;
• and
• disregarding data from the detector for portions of the part other than said at least one portion of the part.

A method for performing computed tomography on a plurality of substantially identical parts to detect an internal structure of the parts using a rotating table positioned between a radiation source and a plurality of radiation detectors, said plurality of detectors producing an output signal representative of the strength of the radiation received by the detectors, comprising the steps of:

• collecting data from the at least one radiation detector during revolution of the table for each revolution of the table only for a predetermined portion of the part;
• and
• reconstructing from the collected data an output representative of the internal structure of the predetermined portion of the part mounted on the table;
• wherein said at least one part is mounted in a container having partitions, and further comprising the steps of:
• modifying the collected data to eliminate data corresponding to partitions;
• and
• reconstructing from the modified collected data an image of the internal structure of the parts in the container.

System for performing computed tomography comprising:

• a radiation source;
• at least one radiation detector spaced from said radiation source, said at least one detector generating an output signal representative of the strength of received radiation from the radiation source;
• a table which supports a plurality of parts positioned between said radiation source and said at least one detector;
• said table being movable relative to said radiation source and said at least one detector;
• a processor which receives said output signal from said at least one detector as an input signal and, under program control, generates an output representative of at least a portion of the internal structure of parts supported on the table;
• a marker attached to said container at a predetermined position relative to parts contained in the container;
• and
• wherein said container contains a plurality of partitions which divide the interior of the container into a plurality of parts containing compartments.

A method for performing computed tomography on a plurality of parts using a rotating table positioned between a radiation source and a plurality of radiation detectors, said plurality of detectors producing an output signal representative of the strength of the radiation received by the detectors, comprising the steps of:

• collecting data for the radiation detectors responsive to the plurality of parts during revolution of the table for each revolution of the table;
• reconstructing from the collected data an output representative of at least a portion of the internal structure of at least a portion of the parts supported on the table;
• and
• disregarding data from the detector for portions of the part other than said at least one portion of the part;
• wherein said parts are contained in a container having partitions, and wherein said disregarding step comprises the step of disregarding data corresponding to the partitions.

A method for performing computed tomography on parts mounted in a container having partitions using a rotating table positioned between a radiation source and a plurality of radiation detectors, said plurality of detectors producing an output signal representative of the strength of the radiation received by the detectors, comprising the steps of;

• collecting data from the at least one radiation detector during revolution of the table for each revolution of the table only for a predetermined portion of the part;
• modifying the collected data to eliminate data corresponding to partitions;
• and
• reconstructing from the modified collected data an image of the internal structure of the parts in the container.