Automated X-ray Imaging Acquisition Method

X-rays penetrate through solid objects, allowing us to distinguish and separate features of interest. This work has applications in several of CSIRO’s Research Units such as minerals, health and biosecurity and agriculture and food. Many science projects and potential industrial solutions are being investigated, which require a fast x-ray imaging data acquisition method.

The Problem

In the current X-ray imaging system, the rotation stage used to transport the object of interest is manually operated. This means that the total acquisition speed is not fast enough to run real-time imaging processing. There is a need to develop a method to make the whole process fast and accurate without manual operation.

Our Solution

A synchronisation method was designed and implemented to link all the devices in the system. Hardware was also designed to perform autonomous rotation of the rotating stage based on the electronic signals of the other components. This work has allowed for the increase in image acquisition speed for research setups. Further work is underway to extend this increase in imaging processing speed for large-scale industrial implementation.

Collaborators

This project is led by Jane Hu and Ben James in collaboration with Yi Liu, Qingxiang Chen, Brian Smith, Louise McGuiggan, Jiasheng Su and Maryam Yazdani.