Intra-lumen polyp detection
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detecting a clinically-relevant feature of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a subject, comprising:
- an oral contrast agent consisting essentially of a stable and non-radioactive isotope, adapted to be administered to the subject;
a capsule adapted to be swallowed by the subject, said capsule including;
at least one radiation source emitting X-ray or gamma radiation having an energy of at least 10 keV;
at least one radiation detector comprising at least one collimator configured to detect in a first energy window collimated X-ray fluorescence radiation from the X-ray contrast agent composition excited by the emitted radiation, and to detect in a second energy window Compton-backscattered radiation from the X-ray contrast agent and the wall of the GI tract produced in response to the emitted radiation; and
a control unit configured to analyze data regarding the detected X-ray fluorescence radiation and Compton-backscattered radiation to identify a distance between the capsule and a wall of the GI tract,said control unit further configured to compute a ratio between the Compton-backscattered radiation and the X-ray fluorescence radiation signals for distinguishing between gas in the GI tract and the clinically-relevant feature.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus (40) is provided, including a capsule (50), adapted to be swallowed by a subject (54), the capsule (50) including (a) at least one radiation source (60), adapted to emit radiation having an energy of at least 10 keV, and (b) at least one photon detector (62), adapted to detect photons generated responsively to the emitted radiation, the photons having an energy of at least 10 keV. The apparatus (40) additionally includes a control unit (64), adapted to analyze data regarding the photons in order to generate information useful for identifying a clinically-relevant feature of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract (72) of the subject (54).
78 Citations
29 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for detecting a clinically-relevant feature of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a subject, comprising:
-
an oral contrast agent consisting essentially of a stable and non-radioactive isotope, adapted to be administered to the subject; a capsule adapted to be swallowed by the subject, said capsule including; at least one radiation source emitting X-ray or gamma radiation having an energy of at least 10 keV; at least one radiation detector comprising at least one collimator configured to detect in a first energy window collimated X-ray fluorescence radiation from the X-ray contrast agent composition excited by the emitted radiation, and to detect in a second energy window Compton-backscattered radiation from the X-ray contrast agent and the wall of the GI tract produced in response to the emitted radiation; and a control unit configured to analyze data regarding the detected X-ray fluorescence radiation and Compton-backscattered radiation to identify a distance between the capsule and a wall of the GI tract, said control unit further configured to compute a ratio between the Compton-backscattered radiation and the X-ray fluorescence radiation signals for distinguishing between gas in the GI tract and the clinically-relevant feature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for detecting clinically-relevant features of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a subject, comprising:
-
orally administering to a subject a radiopaque X-ray contrast agent composition consisting essentially of a stable, non-radioactive isotope; orally administering to a subject a capsule emitting X-ray or gamma radiation having an energy of at least 10 keV; measuring, from within the GI tract, concurrently in a first energy window a first radiation signal generated responsively to the emitted X-ray or gamma radiation, said measured first radiation signal representing collimated Compton-backscattered radiation, and in a second energy window a second radiation signal representing X-ray fluorescence (XRF) radiation from the X-ray contrast agent; computing a ratio between the first radiation signal and the second radiation signal for distinguishing between gas in the GI tract and a clinically-relevant feature. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
-
-
29. A capsule, adapted to be swallowed by a subject, for detecting clinically-relevant features of a gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a subject, comprising:
-
at least one radiation source emitting X-ray or gamma radiation having an energy of at least 10 keV; at least one radiation detector comprising at least one collimator configured to detect a first energy window collimated X-ray fluorescence radiation from the X-ray contrast agent composition excited by the emitted radiation, and to detect a second energy window Compton-backscattered radiation from the X-ray contrast agent and the wall of the GI tract produced in response to the emitted radiation; and a control unit configured to compute a ratio between the Compton-backscattered radiation and the X-ray fluorescence radiation signals for distinguishing between gas in the GI tract and a clinically-relevant feature.
-
Specification