Adaptive CT scanning—mesh based optimisation methods for industrial X-ray computed tomography applications

We present new methods to optimise industrial computed tomography (CT) scanning process. The methods were applied on CT systems— with high-energy X-ray tube sources (.400 keV)—using cross-sectional images for volume digitalisation. Commonly the distances between all cross-sectional slices for volume data acquiring are constant. We developed a new adaptive CT scanning method, which optimises the location of the cross-sectional images with respect to object geometry. The optimisation strategy depends on the statistical evaluation of object mesh models (e.g. STL from CAD). We developed a software prototype that implements the new methods. First tests, applied on commercial objects, lead to a reduction in number of necessary slices of up to 50%. The accuracy of the digital volume model formed by the adaptive scanning method is comparable to the one retrieved by the equidistant scanning method. q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.