Fiber optic storage phosphor imaging plate scanner
First Claim
1. An optical fiber cable for scanning a storage phosphor imaging plate, said optical fiber cable comprising:
- a bifurcated bundle of optical fibers having distal and proximal ends, said optical fibers comprising at least one emitter fiber and at least one collecting fiber;
means for focusing light into the proximal end of said at least one emitter fiber;
means for focusing light out of the distal end of said at least one emitter fiber; and
means for collecting light in the distal end of said at least one collecting fiber.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A novel fiber optic cable having a bifurcated bundle of optical fibers comprised of emitter fiber(s) and collecting fiber(s), a means for focusing light into the proximal end of the emitter fiber(s), a means for focusing light out of the distal end of the emitter fiber(s), and a means for collecting light in the distal end of the collecting fiber(s) is used to increase the sensitivity and specificity of storage phosphor imaging plate scanning. The novel fiber optic cable is used in a storage phosphor imaging plate scanner to transmit light from a light source to the phosphors on the storage phosphor imaging plate and to collect any phosphorescence induced by the light. Use of the bifurcated fiber bundle with the means for focusing light into the emitter fiber(s), focus light out of the emitter fiber(s), and collect light in the collecting fiber(s) provides a method to scan storage phosphor imaging plates with high sensitivity and specificity.
-
Citations
34 Claims
-
1. An optical fiber cable for scanning a storage phosphor imaging plate, said optical fiber cable comprising:
-
a bifurcated bundle of optical fibers having distal and proximal ends, said optical fibers comprising at least one emitter fiber and at least one collecting fiber; means for focusing light into the proximal end of said at least one emitter fiber; means for focusing light out of the distal end of said at least one emitter fiber; and means for collecting light in the distal end of said at least one collecting fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. An optical fiber cable for scanning a storage phosphor imaging plate, said optical fiber cable comprising:
-
a bifurcated bundle of optical fibers having distal and proximal ends, said optical fiber cable further comprising at least one emitter fiber and at least one collecting fiber; a GRIN type coupling lens joined to the proximal end of said at least one emitter fiber; and a focusing/imaging lens joined to the distal ends of said at least one emitter fiber and at least one collecting fiber. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A method of scanning a storage phosphor imaging plate, said method comprising:
-
(a) transmitting radiation from a light source into at least one selected optical fiber of an optical fiber bundle and, upon emerging therefrom, to said storage phosphor imaging plate; (b) collecting phosphorescence induced by the radiation from said light source in at least one optical fiber of said optical fiber bundle other than said selected optical fiber; (c) transmitting said phosphorescence induced by the radiation from said light source to a sensor; and (d) transmitting information representative of said phosphorescence induced by said radiation from said light source from said sensor to a data storage device. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
Specification