Nuclear medical imaging device
OwnerJack Juniinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for imaging a field of view, according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprises an x-ray source positioned adjacent to the field of view, a source mask located between the x-ray source and the field of view having at least one source aperture defined therethrough, and an emission detector, such as a gamma camera, adjacent to the field of view. The apparatus may allow substantially concurrent x-ray imaging and gamma imaging of the field of view.
Claims27
An apparatus for characterizing an emission from a field of view and an x-ray transmissivity of the field of view, the apparatus comprising:
- an x-ray source located adjacent to the field of view, the x-ray source providing x-rays;
- a source mask located between the x-ray source and the field of view, the source mask having a source aperture through which the x-rays pass, the x-rays having a path direction through the field of view;
- an emission detector located adjacent to the field of view, the emission detector detecting the emission from the field of view;
- and
- an x-ray detector located between the emission detector and the field of view so as to receive the x-ray beam after the x-ray beam passes through the field of view,
- wherein the emission detector is shielded from the x-rays, the emission detector providing an emission signal correlated with the emissions from the field of view,
- the x-ray detector providing an x-ray detector signal correlated with the x-ray transmissivity of the field of view for the path direction.
An apparatus for characterizing a field of view, the apparatus comprising:
- an x-ray source;
- a source mask located between the x-ray source and the field of view, the source mask having a source aperture, so that an x-ray beam passing through the source aperture enters the field of view;
- a detector, located adjacent the field of view, the detector having a detector aperture, the detector receiving the x-ray beam after the x-ray beam passes through the detector aperture;
- and
- an actuator, operable to move the source mask relative to the x-ray source, so as to scan the path direction of the x-ray beam through the field of view,
- wherein the source aperture and detector aperture are sized so that the x-ray beam is substantially non-divergent through the field of view.
An apparatus for providing an emission image and an x-ray image of a field of view, the apparatus comprising:
- an x-ray source,-pulsed between an on state and an off state, so as to provide x-ray pulses having a pulse duration, the pulses separated by a pulse interval during which the x-ray source is in the off state;
- an emission detector, providing a emission detector signal in response to emissions from the field of view;
- an x-ray detector, providing an x-ray detector signal in response to x-rays passing through the field of view and incident on the x-ray detector;
- and
- electronic circuitry operable to:
- form an x-ray image of the field of view from the x-ray detector signal, and
- form an emission image of the field of view from the emission detector signal, the emission image being an image of the emissions from the field of view.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.