Patent ID: 7471759

Claim:
A method for estimating scattered radiation of an object using primary radiation to traverse the object and a two-dimensional detector to receive the primary radiation after the primary radiation has traversed the object, said method comprising: image sensing the object using the two-dimensional detector by measuring the total radiation, said total radiation including the sum of the scattered radiation and the primary radiation that has traversed the object on rectilinear projections; image sensing a plurality of calibration phantoms successively traversed by a primary phantom radiation by measuring, for each phantom, a total phantom radiation, said total phantom radiation including the sum of scattered phantom radiation and the primary phantom radiation that has traversed the phantom on rectilinear projections; choosing at least one of the plurality of calibration phantoms by forming a three-dimensional image of the object based on images of the object taken by the two-dimensional detector, attributing respective scattering coefficients of the radiation of each portion of the three dimensional image, determining, for the projections of the radiation through the object, an image with equivalent lengths of material of the phantoms with regard to a total amount of scattered radiation on the projections, and choosing the phantom according to a similarity of the equivalent length and a thickness traversed by the radiation for measuring said chosen phantom; and extrapolating the radiation scattered by the object from the radiation scattered by the at least one chosen phantom.