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US 11,531,126 B2Granted
Calibration method and system for photon or particle counting detectors
AssigneeArizona Board of Regents on Behalf of the University of Arizona
InventorsXin Li, Lars Furenlid
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method of calibrating gamma-ray and photon counting detectors, including, but not limited to, monolithic crystal detectors. The method of the present invention is based on the observation that measurement of fan beam datasets allows the synthesis of collimated beam data to derive MDRFs by use of an algorithm that finds the common or intersecting data subsets of two or more orthogonal calibration datasets. This makes the calibration process very efficient while still allowing the full benefits of maximum-likelihood event-parameter estimation that incorporates the statistical nature of the light sensor measurements.
Claims20
A method for calibrating a particle or electromagnetic radiation detector comprising the steps of:
- a) illuminating the detector with a first particle or electromagnetic radiation beam, wherein the first particle or electromagnetic radiation beam illuminates the detector in a first defined region in the detector and generates a first plurality of sensor signals;
- b) detecting the first plurality of sensor signals and generating a first dataset, wherein the first dataset comprises data corresponding to positions where the first particle or electromagnetic radiation beam interacts with the detector;
- c) illuminating the detector with a second particle or electromagnetic radiation beam, wherein the second particle or electromagnetic radiation beam illuminates the detector in a second defined region in the detector and generates a second plurality of sensor signals, wherein the second region intersects the first region and wherein the first region and second region are different;
- d) detecting the second plurality of sensor signals and generating a second dataset, wherein the second dataset comprises data corresponding to positions where the second particle or electromagnetic radiation beam interacts with the detector;
- e) identifying positional data subsets that are common to both the first and second datasets;
- f) generating a reference dataset for the detector from the common positional data subsets.
3 more elements
A system for detecting a particle or electromagnetic radiation, said system comprising:
- a) at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector comprising:
- (i) at least one scintillator crystal having a front surface, a back surface, and one or more edge surfaces, wherein said scintillator crystal is able to generate scintillation photons in response to an interaction event between a portion of the scintillator crystal and said particle or electromagnetic radiation, and (ii) one or more photodetectors in optical communication with the at least one scintillator crystal, said one or more photodetectors able to receive generated scintillation photons exiting the at least one scintillator crystal and generate electrical signals in response to said received photons;
- b) means for illuminating selected regions of the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector with a particle or electromagnetic radiation beam;
- and
- c) a microprocessor configured to receive electrical signals generated by the one or more photodetectors and generate data corresponding to positions of the interaction events between the particle or electromagnetic radiation beam and the scintillator crystal, wherein said microprocessor is further configured to:
- (i) illuminate the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector with a first particle or electromagnetic radiation beam in a first defined region in the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector, and generate a first dataset, wherein the first dataset comprises data corresponding to positions where the first particle or electromagnetic radiation beam interacts with the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector;
- (ii) illuminate the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector with a second particle or electromagnetic radiation beam in a second defined region in the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector, and generate a second dataset, wherein the second dataset comprises data corresponding to positions where the second particle or electromagnetic radiation beam interacts with the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector;
- (iii) identify positional data subsets that are common to both the first and second datasets, and generate a mean detector response function (MDRF) for the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector from the common positional data subsets;
- and
- (iv) perform an imaging scan of an object utilizing the at least one particle or electromagnetic radiation detector, estimating the position of each interaction event within the detector, and generating, enhancing and/or adjusting an image based on the generated MDRF.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.