Collimator assembly having multi-piece components
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorDavid M. Hoffman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a collimator assembly defined by a series of multi-piece collimator elements or plates that extend along at least one dimension of a scintillator pack. Each collimator element has a collimating component and a shielding component that are structurally independent from one another. The collimating components may be connected to the shielding components or separated by a small air gap. The shielding components are wider than the collimating components but the collimating components have a greater height. With this construction, the collimator assembly optimizes collimation and shielding with lower material requirements and reduced overall size.
Claims19
A collimator for a CT detector array, the collimator comprising:
- a first component configured to collimate high frequency electromagnetic energy rays projected from a projection source toward a subject to be scanned along a projection path, the first component having a proximate end and a distal end defined relative to the projection source;
- a second component discrete from the first component and positioned at least approximate the distal end of the first component, configured to shield at least one of a scintillator edge, a reflector, and a photodiode of a CT detector array;
- and
- wherein the first component is constructed from material different from the second component.
A CT detector array assembly comprising:
- a scintillator array configured to output light when impinged by x-rays;
- a plurality of collimating elements arranged to filter x-rays projected at the scintillator array by an x-ray source;
- a plurality of shielding elements secured to the scintillator array and arranged to at least shield scintillator edges from x-ray absorption;
- and
- a photodiode array configured to detect light output of the scintillator array and output a series of electrical signals that can be processed to reconstruct a CT image.
A CT detector array comprising:
- a scintillator pack having a plurality of scintillators arranged in a cellular array;
- a plurality of shielding elements secured to the scintillator pack such that a shielding element is formed between adjacent cells of scintillators;
- an array of collimator elements wherein each collimator element generally aligns with a corresponding shielding element;
- and
- a photodiode array coupled to the scintillator pack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.