Miniaturized gamma camera with very high spatial resolution
First Claim
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1. A miniaturized gamma ray camera system, having very high spatial resolution for the localization of tumors and being usable for external diagnostic and hand-held use during surgical interventions, the system comprising:
- (a) a camera comprising;
a gamma-ray collimator (1);
a scintillating crystal (2), producing an optical signal when struck by a gamma ray, the crystal being disposed adjacent one end of the collimator;
a photomultiplier tube (4) adjacent the crystal opposite the gamma-ray collimator, the photomultiplier tube transducing the optical signal into an electrical signal on at least one of a plurality of individual collecting wires, wherein the photomultiplier tube has a cross section of 30 millimeters×
30 millimeters and a height not less than 20 millimeters and the plurality of individual collecting wires comprise a multi-anode charge collection system comprising not fewer than four collecting wires for determining an X-position on the X axis and not fewer than four collecting wires for determining a Y-position on the Y axis;
a plurality of signal preamplifiers (5) each connected for amplifying the signal on a respective one of the collecting wires; and
cladding (3) around the collimator, crystal, photomultiplier tube, and preamplifiers; and
(b) an electronic device (6) coupled to the camera and comprising a hard-wired circuit (8) comprising operational amplifiers, the circuit accepting a respective signal from each signal preamplifier and outputting three signals to three converters respectively, the three signals comprising;
(1) a first signal representing a time integration of gamma-ray energy deposited on the scintillating crystal energy, which first signal is coupled to a first analog-to-digital converter (9);
(2) a second signal representing an X co-ordinate, which second signal is coupled to a second analog-to-digital converter (10); and
(3) a third signal representing a Y co-ordinate, which third signal is coupled to a third analog-to-digital converter (11);
whereby an output of the three converters is connectable to a computer including appropriate software to display gamma radiation images imaged by the camera.
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Abstract
The miniaturized gamma camera has all specific functionalities of gamma cameras, with extremely high spatial resolution (about 1-2 mm) and dimensions of about 22 mm×22 mm of active area and total size of about 35 mm×35 mm, such as to fit in one of the surgeon'"'"'s hands and to be handled with absolute ease.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A miniaturized gamma ray camera system, having very high spatial resolution for the localization of tumors and being usable for external diagnostic and hand-held use during surgical interventions, the system comprising:
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(a) a camera comprising;
a gamma-ray collimator (1);
a scintillating crystal (2), producing an optical signal when struck by a gamma ray, the crystal being disposed adjacent one end of the collimator;
a photomultiplier tube (4) adjacent the crystal opposite the gamma-ray collimator, the photomultiplier tube transducing the optical signal into an electrical signal on at least one of a plurality of individual collecting wires, wherein the photomultiplier tube has a cross section of 30 millimeters×
30 millimeters and a height not less than 20 millimeters and the plurality of individual collecting wires comprise a multi-anode charge collection system comprising not fewer than four collecting wires for determining an X-position on the X axis and not fewer than four collecting wires for determining a Y-position on the Y axis;
a plurality of signal preamplifiers (5) each connected for amplifying the signal on a respective one of the collecting wires; and
cladding (3) around the collimator, crystal, photomultiplier tube, and preamplifiers; and
(b) an electronic device (6) coupled to the camera and comprising a hard-wired circuit (8) comprising operational amplifiers, the circuit accepting a respective signal from each signal preamplifier and outputting three signals to three converters respectively, the three signals comprising;
(1) a first signal representing a time integration of gamma-ray energy deposited on the scintillating crystal energy, which first signal is coupled to a first analog-to-digital converter (9);
(2) a second signal representing an X co-ordinate, which second signal is coupled to a second analog-to-digital converter (10); and
(3) a third signal representing a Y co-ordinate, which third signal is coupled to a third analog-to-digital converter (11);
whereby an output of the three converters is connectable to a computer including appropriate software to display gamma radiation images imaged by the camera. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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7. The miniaturized gamma camera according to claim 1, wherein the X-coordinate includes a quotient
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8. The miniaturized gamma camera according to claim 1, wherein the Y-coordinate includes a quotient
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Specification
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Current AssigneeCnr-Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche
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Original AssigneeCnr-Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche
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InventorsSoluri, Alessandro, Pani, Roberto
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Primary Examiner(s)Hannaher, Constantine
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Assistant Examiner(s)Gabor, Otilia
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Application NumberUS09/202,894Time in Patent Office896 DaysField of Search250/363.1, 250/363.02, 250/367, 250/366US Class Current250/363.1CPC Class CodesA61B 6/4258 for detecting non x-ray rad...G01T 1/161 Applications in the field o...G01T 1/1642 using a scintillation cryst...
