Signal enhancement module
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- storing a signal indicative of a detection over a specified length of time by an electromagnetic detector in a buffer;
comparing said signal to at least one criterion, said at least one criterion representing a characteristic of a signal, said characteristic indicative of whether the signal resulted from detection of a desired electromagnetic wave as being rejected and indicating a signal when said comparing indicates that the signal did not result from detection of the desired electromagnetic wave, wherein said comparing comprises determining a multiplicity of events within the signal in the buffer, and rejecting the signal if the number of events is outside a specified threshold.
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Abstract
Events of interest are detected within a gamma ray detection system. Characteristics of undesired signals, including a multiplicity of events within the signal, a density of events within the signal, and other aspects are determined. The signal is filtered based on its expected characteristics. A signal which does not have the expected characteristics is rejected, and an image is formed that excludes those rejected signals.
53 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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storing a signal indicative of a detection over a specified length of time by an electromagnetic detector in a buffer; comparing said signal to at least one criterion, said at least one criterion representing a characteristic of a signal, said characteristic indicative of whether the signal resulted from detection of a desired electromagnetic wave as being rejected and indicating a signal when said comparing indicates that the signal did not result from detection of the desired electromagnetic wave, wherein said comparing comprises determining a multiplicity of events within the signal in the buffer, and rejecting the signal if the number of events is outside a specified threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method, comprising:
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obtaining a first signal from an electromagnetic detector, indicative of a detection by the electromagnetic detector; associating a second signal with the first signal, the second signal having a first value which indicates that the first signal is valid; processing the value of the first signal, to determine whether the first signal represents a desired event being monitored; and changing the second signal to a second value when said processing indicates that the electromagnetic detector signal represents an event other than a desired observed event, wherein said processing comprises comparing the signal to a criterion that represents vibrational energy, and changing the value of the second signal to represent an invalid signal when said comparing indicates that the signal represents vibrational energy.
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17. A method, comprising:
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obtaining a first signal from an electromagnetic detector, indicative of a detection by the electromagnetic detector; associating a second signal with the first signal, the second signal having a first value which indicates that the first signal is valid; processing the value of the first signal, to determine whether the first signal represents a desired event being monitored; and changing the second signal to a second value when said processing indicates that the electromagnetic detector signal represents an event other than a desired observed event, wherein said processing comprises comparing the signal to a criterion that represents a cosmic ray, and changing the value of the second signal to represent an invalid associated first signal, when said comparing detects that the signal represents a cosmic ray.
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18. A system comprising:
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an electromagnetic detector, having a surface adapted to detect an electromagnetic wave, and producing an output signal indicative of a detection; a buffer, which stores a length of said output signal over a specified length of time; and a signal processor, including an electronic filter therein, which processes said output signal in said buffer, using a filter characteristic which represents a multiplicity of events within the signal and that indicates whether the output signal resulted from detection of a desired electromagnetic phenomenon, and indicating signals as being rejected when they did not result from said detection of said desired electromagnetic phenomenon. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A signal processor, comprising:
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an input portion, receiving a signal from a medical gamma ray detector; a buffer, which stores a length of said output signal over a specified length of time; a signal processor portion, including an electronic filter therein which processes said signal in said buffer to reject portions of the signal based on a number of events within the signal that did not result from detection of a desired electromagnetic phenomenon, and produces an image output signal, representing an image based on at least one signal from said image portion which is not rejected by said signal processor portion. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method, comprising:
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determining, in a medical gamma ray system, a dose and number of gamma ray signals which will be applied to a patient; receiving gamma rays from the patient as applied by the medical camera ray system; using said dose and number of gamma ray signals to form a filter to filter out portions of the received gamma rays that are outside a range that is based on said dose and number of gamma ray signals determined in said determining.
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Specification