Energy dispersive x-ray CT using a fixed gantry design for material classification in aviation security x-ray screening

This work presents opportunities and challenges in energy dispersive CT systems for aviation security applications. Current security x-ray scanners use dual-energy systems for threat identification. Dual-energy scanners cannot clearly separate all materials, which results in high false-alarm rates and cause delays for travellers. The development of both new energy dispersive photon counting detectors and associated analysis algorithms allows for improved threat detection by employing energy dispersive scanner systems. The implementation in aviation of such systems as security x-ray scanners also poses several challenges, which are discussed in the paper.