A single-pixel X-ray imager concept and its application to secure radiographic inspections

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 861
• Main Authors: Gilbert, Andrew J., Miller, Brian W., Robinson, Sean M., White, Timothy A., Pitts, William Karl, Jarman, Kenneth D., Seifert, Allen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier 01-07-2017
• Subjects: Arms Control; Compressive Sensing; Imaging; Information Barrier
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576

Imaging technology is generally considered too invasive for arms control inspections due to the concern that it cannot properly secure sensitive features of the inspected item. However, this same sensitive information, which could include direct information on the form and function of the items under inspection, could be used for robust arms control inspections. The single-pixel X-ray imager (SPXI) is introduced as a method to make such inspections, capturing the salient spatial information of an object in a secure manner while never forming an actual image. The method is built on the theory of compressive sensing and the single pixel optical camera. The performance of the system is quantified here using simulated inspections of simple objects. Measures of the robustness and security of the method are introduced and used to determine how such an inspection would be made which can maintain high robustness and security. In particular, it is found that an inspection with low noise (<1%) and high undersampling (>256×) exhibits high robustness and security.