Gamma camera including a scintillator and an image intensifier
First Claim
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1. A gamma-ray imaging device, comprising:
- a scintillator which converts gamma rays into localized flashes of light;
an image intensifier that collects a substantial fraction of the light from each flash produced by a single gamma-ray photon and produces an amplified flash of light;
an optical system including a video camera to image each amplified flash onto an imaging detector that operates at a frame rate fast enough to allow spatial separation of most of the clusters of pixels that receive light from different gamma-ray interactions in the scintillator; and
a processing unit programmed with instructions, the instructions when executed identify the clusters of pixels on the video camera associated with respective amplified flashes of individual gamma-ray photons and use the data from said cluster of pixels to perform a statistical estimation of a position where the corresponding gamma-ray photon interacted with the scintillator and the energy deposited in the interaction.
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Abstract
A gamma-ray or X-ray detection device including a scintillator configured to convert gamma rays or X-rays into optical radiation, an optical image intensifier configured to intensify the optical radiation to generate intensified optical radiation, an optical coupling system configured to guide the intensified optical radiation, and a solid state detector configured to detect the intensified optical radiation to generate an interaction image representing a gamma-ray or X-ray energy emission.
12 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A gamma-ray imaging device, comprising:
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a scintillator which converts gamma rays into localized flashes of light; an image intensifier that collects a substantial fraction of the light from each flash produced by a single gamma-ray photon and produces an amplified flash of light; an optical system including a video camera to image each amplified flash onto an imaging detector that operates at a frame rate fast enough to allow spatial separation of most of the clusters of pixels that receive light from different gamma-ray interactions in the scintillator; and a processing unit programmed with instructions, the instructions when executed identify the clusters of pixels on the video camera associated with respective amplified flashes of individual gamma-ray photons and use the data from said cluster of pixels to perform a statistical estimation of a position where the corresponding gamma-ray photon interacted with the scintillator and the energy deposited in the interaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15)
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14. A method for gamma-ray imaging, comprising:
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in a scintillator, converting gamma rays into localized flashes of light; collecting a substantial fraction of the light from each flash produced by a single gamma-ray photon and producing an amplified flash of light with an image intensifier; imaging each amplified flash onto an imaging detector that operates at a frame rate fast enough to allow spatial separation of most of the clusters of pixels that receive light from different gamma-ray interactions in the scintillator; and identifying the clusters of pixels on the video camera associated with respective amplified flashes of individual gamma-ray photons and using the data from said cluster of pixels to perform a statistical estimation of a position where the corresponding gamma-ray photon interacted with the scintillator and the energy deposited in the interaction. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification