Patent ID: 7335887

Claim:
A method for inspecting a target object comprising: directing radiation from a radiation source at the target object; detecting at least a portion of the radiation from the radiation source at a first detector after the at least a portion of the radiation passes through the target object; scanning the target object with a helium neutron detector, the helium neutron detector being capable of scanning in a first and a second mode including: a first mode comprising detecting with the helium neutron detector an emission from the target object and indicating the presence of the emission when the emission is above a predetermined threshold level; and a second mode comprising detecting with the helium neutron detector a first background emission and a second emission from the target object, comparing the first and second emissions and indicating the presence of the second emission when the second emission is determined to be a predetermined deviation above the first emission; identifying spurious counts representative of emissions received at the helium neutron detector including: detecting counts received at the helium neutron detector at predetermined time intervals; comparing the detected counts from a selected time interval with counts from the remaining time intervals; determining of there is a spurious count in the selected time interval as compared to the remaining time intervals; and disregarding the spurious count, if identified.