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Apparatus and methods for determining spatial coordinates of radiolabelled tissue using gamma-rays and associated characteristic X-rays

  • US 5,694,933 A
  • Filed: 04/28/1995
  • Issued: 12/09/1997
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1995
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A system for determining the location of a mass of radiolabelled tissue with respect to a reference point, the tissue having been provided with at least one radiolabelled tracer producing gamma-ray photons, characteristic x-ray photons, and an associated continuum of Compton-scattered photons, said system comprising radiation detecting means, signal processing means and signal analyzing means, said radiation detecting means being positionable to a location adjacent the radiolabelled tissue for detecting the photons emitted thereby and for providing an electrical signal representative of the received photons, said radiation detecting means and its position relative to the tissue establishing the reference point, said signal processing means utilizing said electrical signal to produce a processed electrical signal being representative of the number of photons detected as a function of their energies, said analyzing means being arranged for analyzing portions of said processed signal utilizing the known naturally occurring abundance of emitted photons of different energies represented by said processed signal for said at least one radiolabelled tracer as a reference factor in such analysis, whereupon said analysis of portions of said processed signal utilizing said reference factor establishes the location of the mass of radiolabelled tissue with respect to the reference point.

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