Patent ID: 8565376
Filing Date: 2013-10-22
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus, comprising: an X-ray source that generates a plurality of modes of an X-ray beam, each mode of the plurality of modes having different geometries; a collimator positioned next to a compound, wherein the collimator has at least one aperture, wherein the compound emits fluorescence X-rays when impacted by the X-ray beam generated by the X-ray source in a specific one of the plurality of modes of the X-ray beam, wherein the collimator comprises a material that absorbs at least a first portion of the fluorescence X-rays emitted by the compound and releases at least a second portion of the fluorescence X-rays at the at least one aperture, wherein the second portion of the fluorescence X-rays released by the at least one aperture have known directional information based on a position of the collimator; and a fluorescence detector for detecting the second portion of the fluorescence X-rays released by the at least one aperture, wherein a first mode of the X-ray beam provides a first instance of the second portion of the fluorescence X-rays for defining regions-of-interest of the compound, and wherein a second mode of the X-ray beam provides one or more additional instances of the second portion of the fluorescence X-rays for generating a three-dimensional (3-D) rendering of an elemental distribution of the compound determined from a combination of the first instance and the one or more additional instances of the fluorescence X-rays detected and the known directional information of the collimator.