Patent ID: 9442198
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: A61B,G01T

Claim Text:
1. A scintillation crystal-type radiation detector comprising: a transparent scintillator block formed from a scintillation material that is configured to interact with a high-energy photon in a scintillation event that releases a large number of low-energy photons; and a plurality of photodetectors positioned to receive at least some of the low-energy photons from the scintillation event and to produce corresponding output signals; and a computer system configured to receive the output signals from the plurality of photodetectors and to calculate the location of the scintillation event within the scintillator block; wherein the scintillator block includes a plurality of internal optical defects created in the scintillator block using subsurface laser engraving, and wherein the plurality of internal optical defects is configured to alter the path of at least some of the large number of low-energy photons within the scintillator block, wherein the scintillator block comprises at least one depth-of-interaction crystal element comprising a first portion having one of the plurality of photodetectors at a first end of the crystal element and a second portion having a different one of the plurality of photodetectors at the first end of the crystal element, and wherein the plurality of internal optical defects is disposed along a transverse plane that delineates the first portion from the second portion and the plurality of internal optical defects defines a triangularly shaped barrier along the transverse plane.