System for quantitative radiographic imaging
First Claim
1. A method of x-ray imaging of a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
- providing an x-ray radiation source such that radiation emitted by the source is transmitted through the body to be imaged;
providing a charged coupled device (CCD) sensor to receive radiation from a scintillator that generates a spatial light intensity pattern in response to radiation emitted by the source and transmitted through the body;
providing an image intensifier between the radiation source and the CCD;
generating a discrete electronic representation of the spatial light intensity pattern from the radiation received by the CCD from the scintillator;
forming an image of the body from the analyzed representation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for spectroscopic imaging of bodily tissue in which a scintillation screen and a charged coupled device (CCD) are used to accurately image selected tissue. Applications include the imaging of radionuclide distributions within the human body or the use of a dual energy source to provide a dual photon bone densitometry apparatus that uses stationary or scanning acquisition techniques. X-rays are generated by an x-ray source which pass through a region of a subject'"'"'s body, forming an x-ray image which reaches the scintillation screen. The scintillation screen reradiates a spatial intensity pattern corresponding to the image, the pattern being detected by a CCD sensor. The image is digitized by the sensor and processed by a controller before being stored as an electronic image. A dual energy x-ray source that delivers two different energy levels provides quantitative information regarding the object being imaged using dual photon absorptiometry techniques.
111 Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method of x-ray imaging of a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
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providing an x-ray radiation source such that radiation emitted by the source is transmitted through the body to be imaged; providing a charged coupled device (CCD) sensor to receive radiation from a scintillator that generates a spatial light intensity pattern in response to radiation emitted by the source and transmitted through the body; providing an image intensifier between the radiation source and the CCD; generating a discrete electronic representation of the spatial light intensity pattern from the radiation received by the CCD from the scintillator; forming an image of the body from the analyzed representation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An x-ray bone densitometer for imaging bodily tissue comprising:
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an x-ray radiation source that emits radiation that is transmitted through a portion of the bodily tissue; a scintillator to receive radiation emitted by the source and transmitted through the portion of bodily tissue, the scintillator generating a spatial optical signal correlated with the received radiation; a charge coupled device (CCD) that is optically coupled to the scintillator such that the CCD receives the spatial optical signal at a plurality of pixels and generates an electronic representation of the bodily tissue; an antiscatter grid positioned between the radiation source and the charge coupled device; a fiberoptic device to optically couple light emitted from the source to the charge coupled device; and a data processor electrically connected to the CCD, the processor having a memory in which the electronic representation is stored and a processing circuit that processes the electronic representation to provide an image of the bodily tissue. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for imaging bodily tissue comprising:
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a radiation source that emits radiation that is transmitted through a portion of the bodily tissue; a scintillator to receive radiation emitted by the source and transmitted through the portion of bodily tissue, the scintillator generating a spatial optical signal correlated with the received radiation; a charge coupled device (CCD) that is optically coupled to the scintillator such that the CCD receives the spatial optical signal at a plurality of pixels and generates an electronic representation of the bodily tissue, the CCD being connected to the radiation source with a C-arm; and a data processor electrically connected to the CCD, the processor having a memory in which the electronic representation is stored and a processing circuit that filters the electronic representation to provide a filtered image of the bodily tissue, the processing circuit having a structure such that pixels with a measured intensity below a reference intensity are removed from the image. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of performing a radiological examination of a subject, the method comprising:
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providing a first radiation source to deliver a beam of x-rays toward the subject; providing a second radiation source within the subject; providing a scintillation screen to receive the radiation passing through the subject'"'"'s body from the first radiation source, and to receive radiation emitted by the second radiation source, the screen emitting radiation with a first spatial intensity pattern proportional to the spatial intensity pattern of the x-ray radiation received from the first source and emitting a second spatial intensity pattern proportional to the spatial intensity pattern received from the second source; detecting radiation emitted by the scintillation screen with a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor which generates a corresponding discretized electronic representation of the first and second spatial intensity patterns of the radiation emitted by the scintillation screen; and processing the discretized electronic representations generated by the CCD sensor with a CCD controller which provides corresponding first and second electronic images output. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of forming a radiographic image of body tissue or bone comprising:
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providing a radiation source such that radiation emitted by the source is transmitted through the body to be imaged; providing a charged coupled device (CCD) sensor to receive radiation emitted by the source and transmitted through the body; generating a discrete electronic representation of a spatial intensity pattern from the radiation received by the CCD; performing pulse height analysis on the discrete electronic representation to remove components of the representation having an intensity level below a selected reference intensity; and forming an image of the body from the analyzed representation. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method of performing x-ray densitometry comprising:
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providing an x-ray radiation source such that radiation emitted by the source is transmitted through a portion of a patient'"'"'s body to be imaged; providing a charged coupled device (CCD) sensor to detect radiation from a scintillator in response to radiation from the source at two energies; generating a discrete electronic representation of a spatial intensity pattern from the radiation received by the CCD; forming an image of the body from the analyzed representation; and determining a density of bone within the body of the patient from the detected radiation. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification