Single photon emission computed tomography system
First Claim
1. A single photon emission computed tomography system for producing multiple tomographic images of the type representing a three-dimensional distribution of a photon-emitting radioisotope, the system comprising:
- a base including a patient support for supporting a patient such that a portion of the patient is located in a field of view, a longitudinal axis being defined through the field of view;
a detector assembly adjacent the field of view, the detector assembly including a photon-responsive detector operable to detect if a photon strikes the detector, the detector assembly operable to detect photons emitted from the portion of the patient located in the field of view;
a photon-blocking member disposed between the field of view and the detector, the blocking member having an aperture slot defined therethrough for passage of photons aligned with the aperture slot, a line of response being defined from the detector through the aperture;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material;
a support assembly for supporting the collimating assembly, the support assembly including a first support member and a second support member, the second support member being spaced from the first support member, the collimating assembly being disposed between the support members such that a first distance is defined between the collimating assembly and the first support member and a second distance is defined between the collimating assembly and the second support member; and
an adjustment assembly including a first adjustor operable to adjust the first distance and a second adjustor operable to adjust the second distance.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A single photon emission computed tomography system includes a base for supporting a patient and a detector assembly adjacent the field of view. The detector assembly detects photon strikes from the field of view. A photon-blocking member is disposed between the field of view and the detector and has an aperture slot that allows passage of photons aligned with the slot. A collimating assembly includes a plurality of collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material. A support assembly supports the collimating assembly and includes a first support member and a second support member with the collimating assembly being disposed therebetween. An adjustment assembly includes a first adjuster operable to adjust a first distance between the collimating assembly and the first support member and a second adjuster operable to adjust a second distance between the collimating assembly and the second support member.
70 Citations
53 Claims
-
1. A single photon emission computed tomography system for producing multiple tomographic images of the type representing a three-dimensional distribution of a photon-emitting radioisotope, the system comprising:
-
a base including a patient support for supporting a patient such that a portion of the patient is located in a field of view, a longitudinal axis being defined through the field of view;
a detector assembly adjacent the field of view, the detector assembly including a photon-responsive detector operable to detect if a photon strikes the detector, the detector assembly operable to detect photons emitted from the portion of the patient located in the field of view;
a photon-blocking member disposed between the field of view and the detector, the blocking member having an aperture slot defined therethrough for passage of photons aligned with the aperture slot, a line of response being defined from the detector through the aperture;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material;
a support assembly for supporting the collimating assembly, the support assembly including a first support member and a second support member, the second support member being spaced from the first support member, the collimating assembly being disposed between the support members such that a first distance is defined between the collimating assembly and the first support member and a second distance is defined between the collimating assembly and the second support member; and
an adjustment assembly including a first adjustor operable to adjust the first distance and a second adjustor operable to adjust the second distance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. An imaging system comprising:
-
a base;
a detector assembly for imaging a field of view, the detector assembly including a photon-responsive detector operable to detect if a photon strikes the detector, the detector assembly operable to detect photons emitted from the field of view;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material;
a support assembly for supporting the collimating assembly, the support assembly including a first support member and a second support member, the second support member being spaced from the first support member, the collimating assembly being disposed between the support members such that a first distance is defined between the collimating assembly and the first support member and a second distance is defined between the collimating assembly and the second support member; and
an adjustment assembly including a first adjustor operable to adjust the first distance and a second adjustor operable to adjust the second distance.
-
-
29. A method of rebinning tomographic image data from a radial imaging system such that the data corresponds to data obtained from a traditional gamma camera of the type obtaining readings while located at a plurality of positions around a field of view, the field of view having a longitudinal axis defined therethrough, the traditional gamma camera having a sensing face with a central line parallel to the longitudinal axis, a position line being defined perpendicularly between the longitudinal axis and the central line, a sensing plane being defined as containing the position line and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, a baseline being defined as perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and contained in the sensing plane, the angular position of the traditional gamma camera being defined as the angle, θ
- , between the baseline and the position line, the traditional gamma camera being operable to detect photon strikes on the sensing face, each strike in the sensing plane being located at a distance, r, from the center line, the rebinning method comprising;
providing a radial imaging system comprising;
a base including a patient support for supporting a patient such that a portion of the patient is located in the field of view;
a generally arcuate detector assembly adjacent the field of view, the detector assembly including a photon-responsive detector operable to detect if a photon strikes the detector, the detector assembly being further operable to identify the position of the detector strike along the arcuate detector assembly;
a photon-blocking member disposed between the field of view and the detector, the blocking member having an aperture slot defined therethrough for passage of photons aligned with the aperture slot, a line of response being defined from the detector through the aperture;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of generally parallel collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material, the vanes being spaced apart so as to define a plurality of gaps; and
a displacement actuator operable to move one of the detector and the photon-blocking member relative to the other of the detector and the photon-blocking member such that the aperture is displaced relative to the detector and the line of response is swept across at least a portion of the field of view;
obtaining a plurality of detector readings associated with a plurality of photon strikes generally in the sensing plane, each reading including an intensity;
determining the position of each reading from the detector assembly, the position including a radius, Rdet, from the center line of the field of view and an angular position, Ψ
, relative to the baseline;
determining the position of the aperture slot for each reading, the position including a radius, Rapp, from the center line of the field of view and an angular position, φ
, relative to the baseline;
for each combination of r and θ
for a traditional gamma camera, calculating the corresponding value of Ψ and
φ
using the formulasfor each combination of r and θ
, storing the intensity value associated with the corresponding positions φ
, Ψ
, Rapp and Rdet. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
- , between the baseline and the position line, the traditional gamma camera being operable to detect photon strikes on the sensing face, each strike in the sensing plane being located at a distance, r, from the center line, the rebinning method comprising;
-
32. A calibration source for a single photon emission computed tomography system of the type having:
-
a base including a patient support for supporting a patient such that a portion of the patient is located in a field of view, a longitudinal axis being defined through the field of view;
a detector assembly adjacent the field of view, the detector assembly including a photon-responsive detector operable to detect if a photon strikes the detector, the detector assembly operable to detect photons emitted from the portion of the patient located in the field of view;
a photon-blocking member disposed between the field of view and the detector, the blocking member having an aperture slot defined therethrough for passage of photons aligned with the aperture slot, a line of response being defined from the detector through the aperture;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of generally parallel collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material, the vanes being spaced apart so as to define a plurality of gaps, the plurality of vanes being disposed between the detector and the field of view such that only photons passing through one of the gaps can travel from the field of view to the detector; and
a displacement actuator operable to move one of the detector and the photon-blocking member relative to the other of the detector and the photon-blocking member such that the aperture is displaced relative to the detector and the line of response is swept across at least a portion of the field of view;
the calibration source comprising;
a radiation shield member formed of a radiation blocking material, the shield member having a front face and a back face; and
an elongated radiation source sized to fit adjacent the aperture in the photon blocking member, the radiation source being disposed adjacent the front face of the shield member. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. In combination, a single photon emission computed tomography system for imaging a field of view and a calibration source for the system, the single photon emission computed tomography system comprising:
-
a detector assembly adjacent the field of view, the detector assembly including a photon-responsive detector operable to detect if a photon strikes the detector;
a photon-blocking member disposed between the field of view and the detector, the blocking member having an aperture slot defined therethrough for passage of photons aligned with the aperture slot, a line of response being defined from the detector through the aperture, the blocking member having a front face directed toward the field of view and a back face directed toward the detector assembly;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of generally parallel collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material, the vanes being spaced apart so as to define a plurality of gaps, the plurality of vanes being disposed between the detector and the field of view such that only photons passing through one of the gaps can travel from the field of view to the detector; and
a displacement actuator operable to move one of the detector and the photon-blocking member relative to the other of the detector and-the photon-blocking member such that the aperture is displaced relative to the detector and the line of response is swept across at least a portion of the field of view;
the calibration source having an installed position for calibrating the system and a non-installed position wherein the calibration source is separated from the system, the calibration source comprising;
a support configured to be disposed adjacent the front face of the blocking member and adjacent the aperture when the calibration source is in the installed position;
a radiation shield member formed of a radiation blocking material, the shield member having an inner face and an outer face, the shield member being interconnected with the support member such that the inner face is directed toward the aperture when the calibration source is in the installed position; and
a radiation source sized to fit adjacent the aperture, the radiation source being disposed on the inner face of the shield member such that when the calibration source is in the installed position, the radiation source is disposed adjacent the aperture and radiation from the radiation source radiates through the aperture. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. A method of calibrating a single photon emission computed tomography system comprising the steps of:
-
providing a single photon emission computed tomography system comprising;
a base including a patient support for supporting a patient such that a portion of the patient is located in a field of view, a longitudinal axis being defined through the field of view;
a detector assembly adjacent the field of view, the detector assembly including a photon-responsive detector operable to detect if a photon strikes the detector, the detector assembly operable to detect photons emitted from the portion of the patient located in the field of view;
a photon-blocking member disposed between the field of view and the detector, the blocking member having an aperture slot defined therethrough for passage of photons aligned with the aperture slot, a line of response being defined from the detector through the aperture, the blocking member having a front face directed toward the field of view and a back face directed toward the detector assembly;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of generally parallel collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material, the vanes being spaced apart so as to define a plurality of gaps, the plurality of vanes being disposed between the detector and the field of view such that only photons passing through one of the gaps can travel from the field of view to the detector; and
a displacement actuator operable to move one of the detector and the photon-blocking member relative to the other of the detector and the photon-blocking member such that the aperture is displaced relative to the detector and the line of response is swept across at least a portion of the field of view;
providing a calibration source comprising;
a radiation shield member formed of a radiation blocking material, the shield member having an inner face and an outer face; and
an elongated radiation source sized to fit adjacent the aperture in the photon blocking member, the radiation source being disposed adjacent the front face of the shield member;
positioning the calibration source adjacent the aperture in the photon blocking member on the front face of the photon blocking member such that the inner face of the radiation shield member faces the aperture and radiation from the source travels through the aperture; and
detecting photon strikes on the detector from the radiation source. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
-
-
46. A medical imaging device comprising:
-
a base including a patient support for supporting a patient such that a portion of the patient is located in a field of view, a longitudinal axis being defined through the field of view;
a generally arcuate imaging section adjacent the field of view and disposed generally in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the section extending generally arcuately at least partially about the field of view between a fixed end supported by the base and a free end spaced therefrom, the generally arcuate imaging section including;
a collimating assembly including a plurality of generally parallel collimating vanes formed of photon-attenuating material; and
a support assembly comprising;
a first support member disposed generally in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the first support member having a fixed end supported by the base and a free end spaced therefrom;
a second support member spaced from the first support member by a distance and being generally parallel to the first support member, the second support member being generally coextensive with the first support member and having a fixed end supported by the base and a free end spaced therefrom;
the collimating assembly being disposed between the first and second support members; and
a plurality of tension members extending between the first and second support members, the tension members being spaced apart between the fixed and free ends of the support members, each tension member having a first end interconnected with the first support member and a second end interconnected with the second support member, the tension members being adjustable such that the distance between the first and second ends is adjusted. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
-
-
53. A medical imaging device comprising:
-
a support base;
an imaging section for imaging a field of view, the imaging section extending between a fixed end supported by the base and a free end spaced therefrom, the imaging section including a support assembly comprising;
a first support member having a fixed end supported by the base and a free end spaced therefrom;
a second support member spaced from the first support member by a distance and having a fixed end supported by the base and a free end spaced therefrom; and
a plurality of tension members extending between the first and second support members, the tension members being spaced apart between the fixed and free ends of the support members, each tension member having a first end interconnected with the first support member and a second end interconnected with the second support member, the tension members being adjustable such that the distance between the first and second ends is adjusted.
-
Specification