Method and apparatus for determining the condition of a biological specimen

A high resolution radioactivity distribution detection system for determining the condition of a subject under diagnosis, the subject containing a diagnostic dose of a radioactive substance, said system comprising:

• a. an array of sensors for detecting radioactive events within the subject, each said sensor having a unique address location within the array representing a unique spatial segment of the subject, each said sensor generating a light signal when activated by a radioactive event;
• b. a plurality of photo detecting devices optically coupled to said array, unique combinations of said photo detecting devices uniquely identifying said address locations of said sensors, each one of said combinations uniquely identifying one of each said address locations of said sensors, said photo detecting devices converting said light signals generated by said sensors into current signals;
• c. front-end electronics means connected to said photo detecting devices, said front-end electronics means digitizing said current signals into data signals constituting the amplitude of said sensed radioactive events and said address location of said sensed events;
• d. buffer memory means connected to said front-end electronics means for temporarily storing said data signals, said buffer memory means having address locations corresponding to said address locations of said sensors in said array, said data signals representing said sensed events temporarily stored in said buffer memory means at said corresponding address locations, said data signals representing said sensed events at any one address location accumulated to data signals representing said sensed events at the same address location in said buffer memory means;
• e. a general purpose computer connected to said buffer memory means;
• f. a disc interface connected to said computer
• g. a disc memory means connected to said disc interface, said disc memory means including a disc for storing data signals and a head for writing said data signals onto said disc and for reading said data signals from said head, said disc storing also instructional data for control of said computer, said disc interface configured to transfer data from said computer to said disc memory and to transfer data from said disc memory to said computer;
• and
• h. display means connected to said computer means for presenting said data stored in said disc memory, said display means controlled by said computer;
• i. said computer generating command signals which are applied to said buffer memory means for transferring said data stored in said buffer memory means to said disc memory, said data sequentially transferred from said buffer memory means to said computer, then to said disc interface and finally to said disc memory;
• j. said computer generating command for transferring said data stored in said disc memory to said display means for presentation, said data sequentially transferred from said disc memory to said disc interface, then to said computer and finally to said display means.