Manufacture of plastic scintillation dosimeters
AssigneeAngioDynamics, Inc.
InventorsJohn Isham, Eric Hyman, Adam Hoch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A radio-opaque plastic scintillator detector (PSD) for use in various medical applications and methods of making and using the PSD. The method requires coating a plastic scintillator fiber with a radio-opaque material; cutting the scintillator fiber; stripping the end of a plastic fiber optic fiber; cutting the naked end of a plastic fiber optic fiber; inserting a closely fitting guide tube over the naked end and inserting the cut scintillating fiber into the guide tube; coating the detector end of the cable with a light opaque polymer or jacket and adding a connector to the other end.
Claims22
A method of manufacturing a radio-opaque plastic scintillation detector (PSD) sensor cable, comprising:
- coating a plastic scintillator fiber with a suspension comprising a radio-opaque material in a binder;
- cutting the plastic scintillator fiber thereby resulting in a light exit end of the plastic scintillator fiber;
- stripping a first end of a plastic optic fiber thereby resulting in a naked end of the plastic optical fiber and a jacketed end of the plastic optical fiber;
- cutting the naked end to generate a light entry end of the plastic optical fiber;
- inserting a guide tube co-axially over the naked end;
- inserting the light exit end of the plastic scintillator fiber against the light entry end of the plastic optical fiber inside the guide tube;
- and
- selectively coating or covering any protruding plastic scintillator fiber with a light opaque polymer;
- and
- optically coupling a connector to a terminus of the jacketed end of the plastic optical fiber.
A method of manufacturing a radio-opaque plastic scintillation detector (PSD) sensor cable, comprising:
- coating a plastic scintillator fiber with tantalum, wherein the coating is applied either with a combination of a binder fluid and tantalum powder, or with a suspension comprising tantalum in a binder;
- cutting the plastic scintillator fiber with a hot knife or laser cutter thereby resulting in a light exit end of the plastic scintillator fiber;
- cutting a plastic optic fiber thereby resulting in a naked end of the plastic optical fiber and a jacketed end of the plastic optical fiber;
- cutting the naked end with a hot knife or laser cutter to generate a light entry end of the plastic optical fiber;
- inserting a guide tube coaxially over the light entry end;
- abutting the light exit end of the plastic scintillator fiber against the light entry end of the plastic optical fiber;
- selectively coating or covering any protruding plastic scintillator fiber with a light opaque polymer;
- and
- optically coupling a connector to a terminus of the jacketed end of the plastic optical fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.