Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080269594 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IMAGE ALIGNMENT FOR COMBINED POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET) AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) SCANNER - A phantom and method are provided for co-registering a magnetic resonance image and a nuclear medical image. The phantom includes a first housing defining a first chamber configured to receive a magnetic resonance material upon which magnetic resonance imaging can be performed in order to produce the magnetic resonance image. The phantom also includes three or more second housings configured to be attached to the first housing, where the second housings each define a second chamber configured to receive a radioactive material upon which nuclear imaging can be performed in order to produce the nuclear medical image and upon which the magnetic imaging can be performed in order to produce the magnetic resonance image. The first chamber has a volumetric capacity that is larger than a volumetric capacity of each second chamber. | 10-30-2008 |
20080290282 | Concurrent DC-Coupled Anode and Dynode Readout Scheme For PET Block Detectors - A scintillation detector including one or more photomultiplier tubes, a scintillation block optically attached to the photomultiplier tubes, and a DC-coupled bleeder circuit combining outputs of dynodes of the photomultipliers to provide a DC-coupled dynode output together with a DC-coupled anode output of the photomultiplier tubes. The DC-coupled bleeder circuit includes a RF transformer. A positive high voltage supply also can be used together with a DC-coupled bleeder circuit for the anode outputs. | 11-27-2008 |
20090072151 | Parameter Adjustment for Medical Device - A medical device with a high voltage connection line for carrying a high DC supply voltage has a control unit generating said high DC supply voltage which is fed through a first AC block unit to said high voltage connection line and generating a digital control signal fed through a first AC coupling unit to said high voltage connection line, and a remotely located unit a second AC block unit coupled to said high voltage connection line for receiving said high DC supply voltage and a second AC coupling unit coupled to said high voltage connection line for receiving said digital control signal. | 03-19-2009 |
20090108206 | MR-Compatible Blood Sampling System For PET Imaging Applications in Combined PET/MR Imaging System - An automated blood sampling system for PET imaging applications that can be operated in or very near to the field of view (FOV) of an MR scanner, such as in a combined MR/PET imaging system. A radiation detector uses APDs (avalanche photo-diodes) to collect scintillation light from crystals in which the positron-electron annihilation photons are absorbed. The necessary gamma shielding is made from a suitable shielding material, preferably tungsten polymer composite. Because the APDs are quite small and are magnetically insensitive, they can be operated in the strong magnetic field of an MR apparatus without disturbance. | 04-30-2009 |
20090114827 | Method for stabilizing the gain of a pet detection system - A method is disclosed for stabilizing the gain of a PET detection system with a cooling unit. The method includes determining the temperature of at least one component of the PET detection system, comparing the actual gain with a reference value, and actuating the cooling unit to influence the temperature such that the gain tends to the reference value. In at least one embodiment, the reference value is determined by determining the temperature of the at least one component during a test measurement, determining the gain during the test measurement, determining a functional dependence of the gain on the temperature, and selecting the reference value based on the gain to be stabilized. Advantageously, in at least one embodiment the gain can be kept constant using the described method in a simple manner, with the influence of the temperature of the components being taken into account. | 05-07-2009 |
20100065723 | Real-Time Gain Compensation for Photo Detectors Based on Energy Peak Detection - A method, process and apparatus for compensating for changes to the gain of photo detectors in a nuclear imaging apparatus is disclosed. Specifically, embodiments detect positron annihilation event pulses using photo detectors. Changes to the gain of the photo detectors are compensated for by determining the relationship of a detected event pulse peak with a target event pulse peak. Based on the difference between these two peaks, a corrected gain is determined in a closed-loop control system. The corrected gain can be used to compensate for temperature changes that can affect the gain of the photo detectors. | 03-18-2010 |
20100066426 | BASELINE RESTORE BASED ON DIODE STAR CONFIGURATION AND TRANSFORMER COUPLING - A simple, low cost circuit with only passive components, and thus low power consumption, is provided for baseline restoration of an AC coupled signal. The circuit includes a passive network of diodes arranged in a star configuration and an RF-transformer. A differential signal strategy may be employed by including a differential amplifier at the input and output of the passive network. | 03-18-2010 |
20100074396 | MEDICAL IMAGING WITH BLACK SILICON PHOTODETECTOR - Medical imaging may be accomplished with a high photoconductive gain at a relatively low operating voltage by employing a black silicon photodetector and integrating CMOS components with elements of the photodetector. | 03-25-2010 |
20110074426 | Detector module for an emission tomography scanner - An emission tomography detector module and an emission tomography scanner are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the emission tomography detector modules includes a scintillator to capture an photon, the scintillator emitting a scintillating light on capturing the photon; a first type of solid-state photodetector to detect the scintillating light; and a second type of solid-state photodetector to detect the scintillating light, wherein the first type of solid-state photodetector and the second type of solid-state photodetector are different with respect to a detecting property. | 03-31-2011 |
20110192982 | System and Method for Providing Depth of Interaction Detection Using Positron Emission Tomography - A system and method is provided for determining depth of interaction (DOI) information. The system and method includes a detector configured to generate DOI information as a result of radiation emitted from a radiation source. The system and method further includes a plurality of scintillator pixels forming a block, wherein the plurality of scintillator pixels have a first portion and a second portion. A first medium distributed in an alternating pattern of coupling and separation between each of the scintillator pixels in a first portion or second portion of the block is also provided. A plurality of sensors for detecting scintillation events across the plurality of scintillators based on the alternating pattern of coupling and separation between each of the scintillator pixels, wherein DOI information is provided by a position profile of the block, and an image processor for generating a 3 dimensional image from the DOI information are also included. | 08-11-2011 |
20120112083 | High Density, Proportional-Mode, APD Arrays for Individual Scintillator Readout in PET Applications - The present invention is a photodetector including improved photosensors configured of an array of small (sub-millimeter) high-density avalanche photodiode cells utilized to readout a single scintillator. Each photosensor comprises a plurality of avalanche photodiodes cells arranged in an (n×n) array of avalanche photodiode cells (where, n>1) that are coupled to a single scintillation crystal. The overall (n×n) array area as the photosensor is the same as the area of a face of the scintillator and each avalanche photodiode cell has a surface area that is not greater than one square millimeter. The photosensor is also configured to facilitate reading the output of each avalanche photodiode cell in the array. By reading out each small avalanche photodiode cell independently, the noise and capacitance are minimized and thereby provide a more accurate determination of energy and timing. | 05-10-2012 |
20120212355 | Encoding for Nuclear Medical Imaging Block Detectors - Signals generated by radiation sensors can be encoded to reduce the number of cables needed to transport information from a nuclear imaging apparatus to a processor for reconstruction. For example, signals from 16 radiation sensors can be encoded into three signals: T (top), L (left), and E (energy). This method of encoding signals can be capable of substantially reducing the number of signals, thereby reducing costs. In addition, reducing the number of signals could improve system timing performance by eliminating cable time-skew and facilitate the filter design by downgrading the circuit accuracy requirements such as group-delay error and filter signal skews. | 08-23-2012 |
20130009063 | System and Method for Improving Detection of Gamma Interactions in a Positron Emission Tomography System - A system and method are provided for determining the onset of gamma interactions for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging more accurately than with existing techniques. The timing of a sequence of primary trigger events is obtained and used to determine a weighted combination, which mixes the timing information from the various primary trigger events to compute an overall event trigger timing with improved time resolution. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the invention improves time resolution by approximately 10% over state-of-the-art methods. This improved time resolution directly benefits the imaging performance of the PET scanner, especially in time-of-flight (TOF) mode, where a high time resolution directly translates to a reduction in image noise at the same dose—or, alternatively, a reduction of dose to the patient or scan time for the same image quality. | 01-10-2013 |
20130009067 | Positron Emission Tomography Detector Based on Monolithic Scintillator Crystal - A high-resolution nuclear imaging detector for use in systems such as positron emission tomography includes a monolithic scintillator crystal block in combination with a single photomultiplier tube read-out channel for timing and total energy signals, and one or more solid-state photosensor pixels arrays on one or more vertical surfaces of the scintillator block to determine event position information. | 01-10-2013 |
20130032722 | Radiation Detection With Optical Amplification - A device for detecting ionizing radiation includes a radiation interaction region configured to generate light in response to an interaction with the ionizing radiation, an optical gain medium region in optical communication with the radiation interaction region and configured to amplify the light, and an energy source coupled to the optical gain medium region and configured to maintain a state of population inversion in the optical gain medium region. The optical gain medium region has an emission wavelength that corresponds with a wavelength of the light generated by the radiation interaction region. | 02-07-2013 |
20130087710 | Trigger Methods in Nuclear Medical Imaging - Disclosed herein are a system, method, and computer-readable storage medium for determining a time pickoff for both digital and analog photomultiplier circuits. Rather than basing time pickoff on the leading edge of a photomultiplier signal crossing a threshold or the first signal from a digital photomultiplier, a method for more accurate time calculations is disclosed. The system searches for peak values associated with the signal using differentiation, peak hold searching, and Gaussian distributions. Based on these calculations and comparisons, a more accurate time pickoff is determined. | 04-11-2013 |
20130087711 | Rare-Earth Metal Halide Scintillators with Reduced Hygroscopicity and Method of Making the Same - The present disclosure discloses rare earth metal halide scintillators compositions with reduced hygroscopicity. Compositions in specific implementations include three group of elements: Lanthanides, (La, Ce, Lu, Gd or V), elements in group 17 of the periodic table of elements (CI, Br and I) and elements of group 13 (B, AI, Ga, In, TI), and any combination of these elements. Examples of methods for making the compositions are also disclosed. | 04-11-2013 |
20130087712 | Metal Halide Scintillators With Reduced Hygroscopicity and Method of Making the Same - The present disclosure discloses, in one arrangement, a scintillator material made of a metal halide with one or more additional group-13 elements. An example of such a compound is Ce:LaBr | 04-11-2013 |
20130184559 | Magnetic Resonance Imaging Compatible Positron Emission Tomography Detector - A compact magnetic resonance imaging compatible positron emission tomography detector. The detector has integrated mechanical and electrical subcomponents. The detector uses a cooling channel which does not interfere with magnetic resonance imaging. The layout and selection of electrical subcomponents of the detector, along with a magnetic resonance compatible cooling strategy, enables the detector to function in a magnetic resonance imaging environment. | 07-18-2013 |
20150069250 | CMOS SPAD Array with Mixed Timing Pick-Off for Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography - Timing pick-off is provided in time-of-flight positron emission using digital output photo sensors (e.g., SPAD or dSiPM). The timing-to-digital converter (TDC) is replaced for timing detection with a mixed analog and digital timing pick-off (MTP) where a processor determines the timing from an output of the MTP. The digital SPAD or dSiPM output is summed into an analog waveform, allowing for triggering based on signal statistics or other than at a particular number of discrete detections. The trigger is used by the processor to extrapolate the time of occurrence without an integrated TDC. | 03-12-2015 |