KR102679074B1 - Hdr processing system for x-ray image - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dynamic range processing system that can maximize reading ability by improving images detected by an It provides a dynamic range processing system that provides improved visibility.

Description

Dynamic range processing system for X-ray images {HDR PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR X-RAY IMAGE}

The present invention relates to X-ray inspection technology, and more specifically, to a dynamic range processing system using a new technique that can maximize reading ability by improving images detected by an X-ray detector.

X-ray inspection equipment is widely known as a non-destructive testing method for inspecting electronic products. In general, the wavelength of X-rays is as small as the size of an atom, so each crystal forms a unique diffraction pattern. Because these Also, during transmission, the transmittance varies depending on the density or atoms of the material, so the energy impacting the phosphor is different. X-ray inspection devices using this principle are widely used as medical equipment for imaging the inside of a living body and as non-destructive testing equipment used in general industrial fields.

The above-described X-ray inspection device is composed of a stage, an do.

As the modern technology industry has developed at a rapid pace, .

In typical X-ray inspection equipment, images through image signals generated by the detector are combined, reconstructed, and read to suit the purpose of the inspection. However, since the image detected by a simple detector has a lot of noise and the captured image is ambiguous, post-processing is performed to reduce errors in reading.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-1710110 discloses the image reading technology of a non-destructive inspection device in the prior art, and Figure 1 is a diagram showing the grayscale process in the prior art.

Looking at this in detail, during non-destructive testing, the captured image (S) of the photographed object is grayscaled (S10), noise is removed, and the distribution of light and dark values is remapped to provide a corrected image. Through the above process, experimental data for building an imaging environment are provided.

Normal two-dimensional image processing as described above can be applied to relatively simple forms such as bone density measurement or void measurement, but it is structurally complex, or multiple layers overlap, or multiple layers with different transmittances are mixed, etc. In situations like this, the difficulty of reading improves dramatically.

Figure 2 is a typical image of a part created through an X-ray inspection device.

In the image of the part, it can be seen that the difference in gray level for each part is relatively large. In this case, if you adjust the gray level as a whole, you can check the desired part, but if the adjustment is performed to view the desired part, there is a problem that other parts become impossible to read.

Figure 3 is an image showing the contrast or brightness in the above image arbitrarily adjusted.

For example, if you want to look at the central area, it is possible to identify a certain area of interest, but as a result of the contrast adjustment process, reading of other areas becomes impossible.

Recently, as various components have become smaller and more integrated, the development of improved technology for image reading of X-ray inspection equipment is required.

The present invention was developed to solve the above-mentioned problem, and its purpose is to provide an X-ray image processing system capable of sophisticated expression and reading of the entire area by optimizing the gray level adjustment process of the X-ray detection image.

The present invention includes a gray scaling unit 1100 that prepares a gray level for an image of image data transmitted from a deductor of an X-ray inspection equipment, separates an area according to the gray level from the gray scaled image, and prepares a correction standard. Provided is a dynamic range processing system for an

The HDR unit includes a density analysis unit 1210 that extracts a peak value for each gray level and a bottom value adjacent to the peak value based on gray level data for the entire area of the image data, and an area for each density of the gray level. It may be provided with a separation unit 1220 that separates and an averaging unit 1230 that provides an average value through a middle area between the peak value and the adjacent bottom value for each separated region.

It is preferable that the correction image generator performs region-specific correction for the entire density region using the averaging result to derive one correction image.

Additionally, the averaging unit may provide a corrected averaging value when the averaging value is greater than or equal to a set upper limit or less than a set lower limit.

By applying the practical HDR improvement method to the image of the X-ray inspection equipment by the configuration of the present invention described above, there is an impressive improvement in the visibility of the image of the actual This has the effect of improving reliability.

1 is a diagram showing a grayscale process in the prior art in the image reading method of the non-destructive inspection device of the prior art.
Figure 2 is an image of a part created through a conventional X-ray inspection device.
Figure 3 is a diagram showing the results of adjusting the gray level in the image of a conventional X-ray inspection device.
Figure 4 is a block diagram to explain the concept of the dynamic range processing system for X-ray images of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of the HDR unit in the dynamic range processing system for X-ray images of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a gray level graph to explain the concept of averaging in the dynamic range processing system for X-ray images of the present invention.
Figure 7 is a diagram showing a corrected image processed by the dynamic range processing system for X-ray images of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a dynamic range processing system for an X-ray image according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

The following embodiments combine the components and features of the present invention in a predetermined form. Each component or feature may be considered optional unless explicitly stated otherwise. Each component or feature may be implemented in a form that is not combined with other components or features. Additionally, some components and/or features may be combined to form an embodiment of the present invention. The order of operations described in embodiments of the present invention may be changed. Some features or features of one embodiment may be included in other embodiments or may be replaced with corresponding features or features of other embodiments.

In the description of the drawings, parts, devices, and/or configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention are not described, and parts, devices, and/or configurations that can be understood at a level by those skilled in the art are not described. Additionally, parts referred to using the same reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same components or steps in the device configuration or method.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to “comprise or include” a certain element, this means that it does not exclude other elements but may further include other elements, unless specifically stated to the contrary. do. Additionally, terms such as “···unit” or “···unit” used in the specification refer to a unit that processes at least one function or operation. In addition, the terms "a or an", "one", "the", and similar related terms are used in the context of describing the invention (particularly in the context of the claims below) as used herein. It may be used in both singular and plural terms, unless indicated otherwise or clearly contradicted by context.

The present invention basically provides a dynamic range processing system that provides improved visibility through a correction image that averages each area according to the density of the gray level of the image generated by X-ray inspection equipment.

The present invention basically targets the system provided in X-ray inspection equipment including a source, detector, and control system and its operation. A source and a detector are configured for predetermined shooting and image data generation, and the types of sources and detectors and types of equipment do not limit the present invention.

Figure 4 is a block diagram to explain the concept of the dynamic range processing system for X-ray images of the present invention.

As the X-ray tube (not shown) is activated and exposure progresses, the detector 100 generates a predetermined image signal and converts it into image data 1010. Regarding the exposure and reading of the detector 100, since the technology of conventional X-ray inspection equipment can be applied, detailed description will be omitted.

In the case of the prior art, attempts have been made to improve image quality or visibility by adjusting a predetermined gray level from the image data 1010, but as described above, there are limitations.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention proposes a method of improving the image data by separating the density areas at each level, averaging each density, and correcting the entire density area based on the results of gray scaling of the image data.

Let us look in detail at an embodiment of the processing system 1000 for this purpose.

The image signal generated from the detector 100 is converted into image data 1010 and stored, and the gray scaling unit 1100 may function for pre-processing the image data.

Accordingly, the gray scaling unit 1100 included in the processing system 1000 can process image data to have a grayscale level for each location. Modern digital X-ray inspection systems can have relatively large grayscale levels with high sensitivity and large dynamic range.

In order to create a corrected image, the present invention proposes a technique for analyzing the density range of gray levels and correcting each, rather than simply adjusting the overall contrast. For this purpose, the HDR unit 1200 functions, and the HDR unit 1200 enables correction for each area through density analysis, and a detailed description of this will be described later.

The correction image generation unit 1300 generates a correction image for the entire gray-scaled area based on the processing of the HDR unit 1200. The final image generated in this way is as shown in FIG. 7.

Figure 5 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of the HDR unit 1200 in the dynamic range processing system for X-ray images of the present invention, and Figure 6 is a graph for explaining an example of the gray level distribution of gray-scaled image data. am.

In order to establish a predetermined separation standard for the entire gray-scaled area, the density of the gray level may be used as a standard. For this purpose, the density analysis unit 1210 functions. Referring to FIG. 6, the vertical axis represents gray level values. The horizontal axis of the graph may be related to each location, but is not limited to this.

The density analysis unit 1210 verifies the peak value (Pa) for each gray level based on the gray level data for the entire area and extracts the bottom value adjacent to the peak value (Pa).

In the illustration, since there are three peak values (Pa, Pb, and Pc), the density analysis unit 1210 can determine that three density regions exist. The area may be divided by setting a change rate of a predetermined inflection point or slope value appearing in the data.

By this density analysis, the separation unit 1220 separates three areas (a, b, c) for gray level density. Each density region may be greatly influenced by differences in materials, and in some cases may be due to factors such as structure, thickness, and overlap of parts.

The averaging unit 1230 functions for each of the separated areas, and derives averaging results by calculating the middle area between the peak values (Pa, Pb, and Pc) and the bottom value.

Based on the results of the averaging unit 1230, the correction image generator 1300 performs correction on the entire density area and derives one correction image.

Additionally, the averaging unit 1230 is basically capable of generating a corrected image based on the average value of the area or the middle value of the peak value and the bottom value, but there is an averaging value greater than the set upper limit or the average is less than the set lower limit. For areas with averaging values, a corrected averaging value can be provided to improve visibility. In this case, the corrected averaging value may be obtained by increasing or decreasing the averaging value accordingly based on the adjacent area.

In another embodiment, the averaging unit 1230 may exclude correction for the density area if the density distribution range of the gray level as a result of deriving the averaging value is within the allowable range of the averaging value. will be.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing a corrected image derived by the functions of the HDR unit and the corrected image generating unit.

Figure 2 can be seen as an image before processing basically extracted from the image data 1010, Figure 3 is the result of adjusting the overall contrast based on a specific level according to conventional technology, and Figure 7 shows the concept of the present invention. This is the result of averaging by density of the gray level.

When comparing the three images, the difference in contrast between the convex shapes on the left and right was large, so in Figure 3, the image information in the middle area was lost, making it virtually impossible to read. In contrast, in the case of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, since processing is performed for each level density, the adjusted results are shown corresponding to each area, showing that visibility is greatly improved without image loss.

In addition, in the case of the middle area connecting the convex parts, the overall gray level was low in the initial image, reducing visibility, but in Figure 3, the contrast difference was not large, providing some degree of visibility. However, note that when the concept of the present invention is applied, the difference between each level is increased so that each circle and gap are clearly revealed.

It can be confirmed that there is an impressive improvement in the visibility of the image of the actual X-ray test result because substantial HDR improvement is applied to the image of the Therefore, the convenience and efficiency of improving inspection results as well as reliability can be improved.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail based on examples and accompanying drawings. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the above embodiments and drawings, and the scope of the present invention will be limited only by the content described in the claims described later.

100...detector 1000...processing system
1010...video data 1100...gray scaling part
1200...HDR section 1210...Density analysis section
1220...separating part 1230...averaging part
1300... Correction image generation unit

Claims (4)

A gray scaling unit 1100 that provides a gray level for the image of the image data transmitted from the deductor of the X-ray inspection equipment,
An HDR unit 1200 that separates areas according to gray levels from the gray-scaled image and prepares correction standards,
It includes a correction image generator 1300 that generates a correction image according to the correction criteria of the HDR section,
The HDR unit,
A density analysis unit 1210 that extracts a peak value for each gray level and a bottom value adjacent to the peak value based on gray level data for the entire area of the image data, and separates areas according to the density of the gray level. It is provided with a separation unit 1220 and an averaging unit 1230 that provides an average value through a middle area between the peak value and the adjacent bottom value for each separated area,
The correction image generator,
A dynamic range processing system for X-ray images that derives one corrected image by performing area-specific correction for the entire density area through averaging results.
According to paragraph 1,
The averaging unit,
A dynamic range processing system for X-ray images that provides a corrected averaging value when the averaging value is greater than or equal to a set upper limit or less than a set lower limit.

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