Three-dimensional rectilinear scanner
First Claim
1. In a tomographic gamma ray imaging device for detecting radiation dispersed within or transmitted through a patient and displaying an illustration of such distribution, the improvements comprising:
- a head traversing the patient;
said head having a collimator;
a plurality of crystal members mounted on top of said collimator within said head;
said collimator comprising a lead shield relatively impervious to the passage of gamma radiation;
arrays of apertures within said collimator allowing the conduction of gamma radiation through said apertures;
each of said apertures having a focal axis directed towards a point below said collimator;
said point lying on the focal axes of all of said apertures;
said point lying within a focal plane from which radiation is detected by said head through said apertures in said collimator;
each of said crystal members responding electromagnetically to radiation from a different one of the arrays of apertures in said collimator;
each of said crystal members responding to radiation simultaneously to each of the other crystal members responding to radiation;
each of said focal axes of said apertures intercepting with one another and being at acute angles with respect to each other;
said head passing over a source of radiation in such a manner that electromagnetic response from one of said crystal members is discrete from and chronologically displaced from an electromagnetic response of another one of said crystal members.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rectilinear scanner for detecting radiation in a plurality of channels utilizing a collimator. Each of the channels receives information from a different portion of the collimator. Information separately received is separately massaged and later collated to present a common image. The information is processed by apparatus in a data processing system. This system has means for massaging analog signals corresponding to gamma radiation counts. This system has means for converting such analog signals to digital signals. This system has means interfacing the digital signals into an address register that communicates directly via data busses to core memory of a central processing unit by cycle stealing. This system has means deriving clinically significant information by computation on the resultant digital data. This system has means storing, retrieving, and displaying the resultant digital data and the resultant derivations therefrom collectively. This is done in such a manner as to allow time sequencing of the aforementioned operations such that the aforementioned operations can be interleaved on a real time basis.
65 Citations
14 Claims
-
1. In a tomographic gamma ray imaging device for detecting radiation dispersed within or transmitted through a patient and displaying an illustration of such distribution, the improvements comprising:
-
a head traversing the patient; said head having a collimator; a plurality of crystal members mounted on top of said collimator within said head; said collimator comprising a lead shield relatively impervious to the passage of gamma radiation; arrays of apertures within said collimator allowing the conduction of gamma radiation through said apertures; each of said apertures having a focal axis directed towards a point below said collimator; said point lying on the focal axes of all of said apertures; said point lying within a focal plane from which radiation is detected by said head through said apertures in said collimator; each of said crystal members responding electromagnetically to radiation from a different one of the arrays of apertures in said collimator; each of said crystal members responding to radiation simultaneously to each of the other crystal members responding to radiation; each of said focal axes of said apertures intercepting with one another and being at acute angles with respect to each other; said head passing over a source of radiation in such a manner that electromagnetic response from one of said crystal members is discrete from and chronologically displaced from an electromagnetic response of another one of said crystal members. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
3. said oscillographic display member operable to simultaneously separately and distinctly display the responses received along said separate channels.
-
13. In a method of tomographic gamma ray imaging, the improvements comprising:
-
scanning gamma radiation along a predetermined planar path; shielding a preselected portion of radiation from detection; shielding another portion of radiation from detection simultaneously; simultaneously funneling radiation through a preselected portion of said shielding; simultaneously funneling another portion of radiation through another portion of shielding; said funneling having a common point of intersection on a central focal plane; discretely, separately, and simultaneously obtaining crystalographic electromagnetic response from said separate preselected funneling of radiation; counting by photomultiplication in separate channels in a discrete and simultaneous manner the separately detected electromagnetic radiation; converting resultant electromagnetic signals in continuous form to discrete pulsating digital signals in separate channels simultaneously from said counting by photomultiplication; channeling the digitized data into computer data banks and maintaining the separate and distinct separation thereof provided by previous steps; massaging the data by data processing in said computer; and simultaneously illustrating resultant tomographic radioactive counts on a predetermined matrix separately and distinctly for the previously channeled and separated flow of signals.
-
-
14. In a tomographic gamma ray imaging device for detecting radiation dispersed within a patient and displaying an illustration of such distribution in a mathematical and graphical representation of such distribution, the improvements comprising:
-
a head; said head having a colllimator; a crystal member mounted on top of said collimator within said head; said collimator comprising a lead shield relatively impervious to the passage of gamma ray radiation; an array of apertures in said collimator allowing the conduction of gamma ray radiation through said apertures; each of said apertures having a focal axis directed towards a point below said collimator; said point lying on the focal axis of each of said apertures; said point lying within focal plane from which radiation is detected by said head through said apertures in said collimator; each said focal axis of said apertures intercepting with one another and being at an acute angle with respect to each other; said crystal emitting a light signal responsive to nuclear radiation passing through said array of apertures; a photomultiplier tube emitting a signal responsive to light emitted from said crystal; a linear preamplifier generating an electrical signal responsive to said signal from said photomultiplier tube; a linear amplifier generating a signal responsive to said signal being generated from said linear preamplifier; an energy discriminator emitting signals within predetermined amplitude limits responsive to said signal being generated from said linear amplifier; a machine wired computer interface apparatus emitting a signal within a form cognizable by a central processing unit of a digital computer responsive to said signals being emitted by said energy discriminator; said computer interface apparatus comprising an interface leveling buffer, a buffer output, an address selector, an interrupt function apparatus, a counter, and a byte mode circuit; said central processing computer comprising a data bus, an accumulator and a memory storing device; said interface leveling buffer operable to send a request signal to said data bus responsive to said signals emitting from said energy discriminator; said data bus operable to transmit an execute signal to said buffer output responsive to said request signal received from said address selector; said interrupt function apparatus operable to enable said address selector for operation responsive to a signal received from said counter; said central processing unit data bus operable to transmit data to a data field within said memory device without passing such data through said accumulator; said accumulator operable to derive information from said data field responsive to instructions from a stored program within said memory device; whereby data reflective of radiation passing through said collimator can be stored in the data field of said memory device while being interleaved with other simultaneous operations of said central processing unit being processed through the accumulator of said central processing unit.
-
Specification