Imaging system for three-dimensional source localization

A method of operating an imaging system having a detector configured to obtain radiation data and a controller with a processor and tangible, non-transitory memory on which instructions are recorded, the method comprising:

• defining a plurality of buffers based on at least one initial condition and designating one of the plurality of buffers as a current buffer, via the controller;
• receiving the radiation data, via the controller, the radiation data including a plurality of events;
• determining if an individual event of the plurality of events falls within the current buffer, via the controller;
• correcting the plurality of events within the current buffer for pose, including tagging the plurality of events with a respective event time, obtaining a respective detector pitch, a respective detector yaw and a respective detector roll of the detector at the respective event time and shifting the plurality of events in angular space by the respective detector pitch, the respective detector yaw and the respective detector roll;
• aligning the plurality of events in the current buffer in a two-dimensional space, via the controller;
• reconstructing the plurality of events in the current buffer in a three-dimensional space, via the controller, the reconstruction being done once for each of the plurality of buffers;
• and
• creating a three-dimensional image based in part on the reconstruction in the three-dimensional space, via the controller.

An imaging system comprising:

• a detector configured to obtain radiation data from one or more sources, the radiation data including a plurality of events;
• a controller configured to receive the radiation data, the controller having a processor and tangible, non-transitory memory on which instructions are recorded;
• wherein execution of the instructions by the processor causes the controller to:
• define a plurality of buffers based on at least one initial condition and designate one of the plurality of buffers as a current buffer;
• receive an individual event of the plurality of events and determine if the individual event falls within the current buffer;
• align the plurality of events in the current buffer in a two-dimensional space;
• reconstruct the plurality of events in the current buffer in a three-dimensional space, the reconstruction being done once for each of the plurality of buffers;
• and
• create a three-dimensional image based in part on the reconstruction in the three-dimensional space;
• and
• wherein reconstructing the plurality of events into the three-dimensional space includes:
• representing the three-dimensional space by three-dimensional voxels;
• obtaining respective angles between each of the three-dimensional voxels and an average global position in the three-dimensional space, the average global position being an average of a respective event position for the plurality of events in the current buffer;
• obtaining corresponding pixel values from the current buffer based on the respective angles, the corresponding pixel values being represented by respective Compton cones;
• and
• adding a respective contribution of the corresponding pixel values to the three-dimensional voxels.