IMAGE ANALYSIS ALGORITHMS FOR DUAL MODE IMAGING SYSTEMS

The level of detail discernable in imaging techniques has generally excluded them from consideration as verification tools in inspection regimes where sensitive information may be present.Imaging may significantly advance verification efforts if it can be made sufficiently robust to operate behind an information barrier. One of the major drawbacks to using imaging techniques is the perceived need to have a comparison image. Since the comparison image is sensitive, storing it in a measurement system violates a cardinal rule of information barrier design. We have developed methods that eliminate the need to store a sensitive image, and these methods might be suitable for applying imaging techniques to verification problems. This paper describes the development of combined active (conventional) radiography and passive (auto) radiography techniques for imaging sensitive items assuming that comparison images cannot be furnished. Three image analysis algorithms are presented, each of which reduces full image information to non-sensitive feature information and ultimately is intended to provide only a yes/no response verifying features present in the image. These algorithms are evaluated on both their technical performance in image analysis and their application with or without an explicitly constructed information barrier.