Adjustable detector array for a nuclear medicine imaging system
AssigneeGE Precision Healthcare LLC
InventorJean-Paul Bouhnik
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for a medical imaging system having a detector array. In one example, the detector array may include a plurality of adjustable imaging detectors arranged in subsets thereof, each of the plurality of adjustable imaging detectors including a detector unit, each detector unit having a plurality of rows of detector modules, wherein the plurality of adjustable imaging detectors may be arranged on an annular gantry, where an inner surface of the annular gantry may circumscribe a substantially rectangular aperture therethrough, and wherein each subset of the plurality of adjustable imaging detectors may be respectively disposed on a side of the inner surface and may extend within the substantially rectangular aperture.
Claims19
A detector array, comprising:
- a plurality of adjustable imaging detectors arranged in subsets thereof,
- each of the plurality of adjustable imaging detectors comprising:
- a movable detector carrier;
- and
- a detector unit affixed to a distal end of the movable detector carrier, wherein each detector unit has a plurality of rows of detector modules,
- wherein the plurality of adjustable imaging detectors is configured to be coupled to an annular gantry having an inner surface that circumscribes a substantially rectangular aperture therethrough such that:
- each of the subsets is arranged such that movable detector carriers of the plurality of adjustable imaging detectors move parallel to each other,
- wherein the subsets are arranged in opposing pairs,
- wherein the movable detector carriers of subsets within one pair move substantially parallel to each other, and substantially perpendicular to the movable detector carriers of subsets within another pair, and
- wherein each subset of the plurality of adjustable imaging detectors is respectively disposed on a side of the inner surface and extends within the substantially rectangular aperture.
A medical imaging system, comprising:
- an annular gantry having an inner surface circumscribing a substantially rectangular aperture;
- a detector array positioned on the annular gantry, the detector array comprising subsets of detector units extending within the substantially rectangular aperture from respective sides of the inner surface, each detector unit comprising a plurality of rows of cadmium zinc telluride modules, wherein each of the plurality of rows of cadmium zinc telluride modules comprises a two-dimensional array of pixels;
- an exchangeable collimator comprising bores for receiving incoming radiation from a subject positioned within the substantially rectangular aperture, wherein the bores of the exchangeable collimator are registered to the two-dimensional array of pixels of corresponding cadmium zinc telluride modules;
- and
- a processing unit configured with instructions in a non-transitory memory that when executed cause the processing unit to:
- coordinate the subsets of detector units to move to a first position to receive the incoming radiation from the subject, and
- acquire medical imaging data from the subsets of detector units based on the incoming radiation.
A method for medical imaging, the method comprising:
- positioning a subject within a substantially rectangular aperture of an annular gantry, where each of a plurality of sides of an inner surface of the annular gantry circumscribing the substantially rectangular aperture is respectively configured with a subset of imaging detectors, each of the subsets of imaging detectors comprises a detector unit, each detector unit comprises an exchangeable collimator positioned adjacent to three rows of cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) modules, each exchangeable collimator is configured to receive and narrow incoming radiation from an area within the subject for each corresponding CZT module, and each row of the three rows of CZT modules remains parallel to one of the plurality of sides of the inner surface of the annular gantry throughout the medical imaging;
- estimating an outer perimeter of the subject;
- translating the subset of imaging detectors for each of the plurality of sides of the inner surface of the annular gantry toward the estimated outer perimeter of the subject;
- acquiring nuclear medicine (NM) imaging data based on the incoming radiation from the area within the subject;
- and
- diagnosing a medical issue afflicting the area within the subject based on the NM imaging data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.