Exploring Mediated Reality to Approximate X-ray Attenuation Coefficients from Radiographs

Estimation of the x-ray attenuation properties of an object with respect to the energy emitted from the source is a challenging task for traditional Bremsstrahlung sources. This exploratory work attempts to estimate the x-ray attenuation profile for the energy range of a given Bremsstrahlung profile. Previous work has shown that calculating a single effective attenuation value for a polychromatic source is not accurate due to the non-linearities associated with the image formation process. Instead, we completely characterize the imaging system virtually and utilize an iterative search method/constrained optimization technique to approximate the attenuation profile of the object of interest. This work presents preliminary results from various approaches that were investigated. The early results illustrate the challenges associated with these techniques and the potential for obtaining an accurate estimate of the attenuation profile for objects composed of homogeneous materials.