Method and system of dynamically controlling shaping time of a photon counting energy-sensitive radiation detector to accommodate variations in incident radiation flux levels
First Claim
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1. A photon counting (PC) radiographic system comprising:
- a radiographic energy detector configured to detect radiographic energy having a given flux rate and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) and output electrical signals indicative of the detected radiographic energy;
a PC channel connected to receive the electrical signals and sample the electrical signals in a sampling window and provide a photon count output; and
a control operationally connected to the PC channel and configured to automatically adjust the sampling window and the SNR at least as a function of the given flux rate.
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Abstract
A method and system of counting and tagging radiation energy received by a radiation detector is presented. The method and system are designed to dynamically control the sampling window or shaping time characteristics of a photon counting detector to accommodate variations of flux experienced by the detector so as to preserve optimum detector performance and prevent saturation during high flux conditions.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A photon counting (PC) radiographic system comprising:
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a radiographic energy detector configured to detect radiographic energy having a given flux rate and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) and output electrical signals indicative of the detected radiographic energy; a PC channel connected to receive the electrical signals and sample the electrical signals in a sampling window and provide a photon count output; and a control operationally connected to the PC channel and configured to automatically adjust the sampling window and the SNR at least as a function of the given flux rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A CT system comprising:
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a rotatable gantry having a bore centrally disposed therein; a table movable fore and aft through the bore and configured to position a subject for CT data acquisition; a radiographic energy projection source positioned within the rotatable gantry and configured to project radiographic energy toward the subject; and a detector assembly disposed within the rotatable gantry and configured to detect radiographic energy projected by the projection source and impinged by the subject, the detector assembly including; a detector element configured to output electrical signals indicative of detected radiographic energy; a PC channel operationally connected to the detector element and configured to count a number of photons of the detected radiographic energy according to a variable shaping time; and a shaping time controller operationally connected to the PC channel and configured to control the variable shaping time in near real-time based on the photon output count data. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of preventing radiation energy detector saturation comprising the steps of:
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monitoring flux of radiation energy having a number of photons received by a photon counting, radiation energy detector, the detector designed to sample a photon charge cloud within a given sampling window and count the number of photons; comparing a current flux on the radiation energy detector to a base flux level and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) corresponding to the given sampling window; and adjusting the given sampling window to correspond to the current flux and the SNR based on the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification