Gamma camera with automatic adjustment of the energy spectrum
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorHugo Bertelsen
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Abstract
A nuclear camera system is provided in which the energy spectrum peaks identified by a camera detector head are automatically adjusted to account for drift and other sources of inaccuracy. Histograms of events detected by the photomultiplier tubes of the detector head are acquired continuously and updated periodically. A system operator initiates the adjustment with an autopeaking command which causes the system to ascertain the validity of the histogram data and, if it is valid, to determine a peak energy level. The determined level is compared to a theoretical value for an isotope present and the comparison is used to adjust the gain applied to energy data of the detector head.
Claims19
A gamma camera system comprising:
- a detector head comprising a plurality of scintillation event detectors;
- an image processor coupled to the detector and responsive to detected scintillation events for producing image signals;
- a display coupled to the image processor for displaying a gamma camera image;
- and
- an energy spectrum adjustment processor responsive to energy signals produced by a plurality of the scintillation event detectors which adjusts the response of the detector to detected scintillation events by providing a gain adjustment signal which modifies the gain applied to the energy signals.
A method for adjusting the response of a nuclear camera comprising:
- acquiring a histogram of event data from a plurality of scintillation event detectors of a nuclear camera detector head;
- analyzing the histogram to determine its validity;
- analyzing a photopeak of the histogram to determine its energy peak;
- and
- using the determined energy peak to adjust the response of the detector to detected scintillation events.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.