Patent ID: 6661865
Filing Date: 2003-12-09
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A diagnostic imaging system comprising:a stationary gantry which defines a subject receiving aperture; a rotating gantry mounted for rotation around the stationary gantry subject receiving region; a transmission radiation source which transmits radiation through a subject disposed in a subject receiving region, the transmission radiation source being mounted to the rotating gantry for rotation therewith; a transmission radiation detector for detecting the transmission radiation transmitted by the source after passage of the radiation through a transverse imaging slab of the subject in the subject receiving region, the transmission radiation detector being mounted to the rotating gantry for rotation therewith; at least one nuclear detector head mounted to the rotating gantry for rotation around the subject receiving region, which detector head detects emission radiation emitted from within the transverse imaging slab by a radiopharmaceutical injected into the subject, wherein each nuclear detector head including; a planar scintillation crystal which emits a short duration light scintillation in response to radiopharmaceutical emission radiation incident thereon and which glows emitting light for a longer duration in response to scattered transmission radiation; a plurality of opto-electrical elements optically coupled to the scintillation crystal, said opto-electrical elements converting light received from the scintillation into a plurality of electrical output signals; and a variable axial radiation shield disposed adjacent the scintillation crystal, said variable axial radiation shield shielding the scintillation crystal from (i) scattered emission radiation originating from the injected radiopharmaceutical and (ii) the transmission radiation originating from the transmission radiation source; and at least one reconstruction processor which reconstructs the transmission radiation received by the transmission radiation detector and the radiopharmaceutical emission radiation received by the nuclear detector head into volumetric image representations.