Patent ID: 8348507

Claim:
An x-ray system comprising a gantry on which an x-ray source and an x-ray detector are mounted; at least one motor for rotating the gantry; a control unit for controlling the x-ray source and the x-ray detector to acquire x-ray images and for driving the motor to control a movement of the gantry, wherein the control unit comprises means for effectuating a wiggling motion of the gantry, wherein an axis connecting the x-ray source and the x-ray detector traces a surface of a cone, wherein the x-ray source and the x-ray detector have a fixed position with respect to the axis, wherein the control unit comprises means for acquiring a series of x-ray images during the wiggling motion of the gantry; an object recognition unit for detecting and tracking an object appearing in the series of x-ray images to obtain a tracked path, wherein the tracked path represents a plurality of positions at which the object was detected in the series of images; and a depth estimation unit for using the tracked path for estimating a depth parameter indicative of a position of the object in a direction substantially parallel to the axis.