Image acquisition and processing chain for dual-energy radiography using a portable flat panel detector

An imaging system, comprising:

• an X-ray device adapted to generate X-rays at a first energy level at a first point in time and a second energy level at a second point in time;
• a portable flat-panel digital X-ray detector operable to detect X-rays from the X-ray source at the first energy level and the second energy level, wherein the detector produces a first signal representative of X-ray intensity from X-rays produced at the first energy level and a second signal representative of X-ray intensity from X-rays produced at the second energy level;
• an image processing system coupled to the detector and operable to produce a first image based on the first signal representative of X-ray intensity and a second image based on the second signal representative of X-ray intensity;
• an anti-scatter grid disposed over the detector;
• and
• a grid registration system operable to register the anti-scatter grid in the first image and in the second image.

A medical imaging system, comprising:

• an X-ray source adapted to generate X-rays at a first energy level at a first point in time and a second energy level at a second point in time;
• a power supply operable to supply power to the X-ray source to generate the X-rays at the first energy level and the second energy level;
• a portable flat-panel digital X-ray detector operable to detect X-rays from the X-ray source at the first energy level and the second energy level, wherein the detector produces a first signal representative of X-ray intensity from X-rays produced at the first energy level and a second signal representative of X-ray intensity from X-rays produced at the second energy level;
• an image processing system coupled to the detector and operable to produce a first image based on the first signal representative of X-ray intensity and a second image based on the second signal representative of X-ray intensity;
• a carrier adapted to transport at least one of the X-ray source, the power supply, the digital X-ray detector and the processor-based device to a patient;
• an anti-scatter grid disposed over the detector;
• an anti-scatter grid registration system to register the anti-scatter grid in a first material-specific image obtained from X-rays produced at the first energy level and a second material-specific image obtained from X-rays produced at the second energy level;
• and
• an alignment sensor operable to produce an indication when the portable flat-panel digital X-ray detector is aligned with the X-ray source.