Patent Document ID: 9069092
Application ID: 13413601
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An inspection system, comprising: an inspection area; at least one x-ray source adapted to emit x-ray radiation into the inspection area; a sparse detector array positioned to receive x-ray radiation from the at least one x-ray source after passing through the inspection area, wherein the sparse detector array includes a plurality of rows of detector elements, wherein at least some of the plurality of rows are separated by gaps such that the at least some of the plurality of rows are non-contiguous, wherein a percentage of rows in the sparse detector array compared to a full array of detectors is less than 50%; and at least one processor programmed to: determine a first volumetric image of at least a portion of an item within the inspection area using a direct reconstruction process from outputs of the sparse detector array when irradiated by the at least one x-ray source; initialize an iterative reconstruction process with the first volumetric image; and perform the iterative reconstruction process to determine a second volumetric image of at least a portion of the item within the inspection area.