Patent ID: 8923476

Claim:
A method comprising: acquiring a first plurality of projection images of a volume using a first plurality of imaging x-ray sources, each one of the first plurality of imaging x-ray sources disposed in a fixed relation with respect to one another and to a first axis and to emit a respective imaging x-ray, each of the first plurality of projection images being associated with an imaging x-ray emitted by a respective one of the first plurality of imaging x-ray sources in a first scanning trajectory; acquiring a second plurality of projection images of the volume using a second plurality of imaging x-ray sources, each one of the second plurality of imaging x-ray sources disposed in a fixed relation with respect to one another and to a second axis and to emit a respective imaging x-ray, each of the second plurality of projection images being associated with an imaging x-ray emitted by a respective one of the second plurality of imaging x-ray sources in a second scanning trajectory, wherein the first scanning trajectory and the second scanning trajectory are different from each other, wherein the first scanning trajectory and the second scanning trajectory are selected from at least one of a circular source scanning trajectory and a linear arc scanning trajectory, and wherein the plurality of x-ray sources associated with the linear arc scanning trajectory rotate in the scanning trajectory; and performing digital tomosynthesis reconstruction to generate a three-dimensional image of the volume based on the first plurality of projection images and the second plurality of projection images.