Patent Number: 053032829
Section: abstract

A collimator for use in an imaging system with a radiation point source has a plurality of channels formed therein along longitudinal axes aligned with selected orientation angles that correspond to the direct beam path from the radiation source to the radiation detectors. The collimator comprises a photosensitive material coated with a radiation absorbent material. The cross-sectional shape of the channels corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the radiation detecting area of the detector element adjoining the channel, and the sidewalls of the channel are smooth along their length. The collimator may be fabricated by forming a mask on a photosensitive collimator substrate, exposing the photosensitive substrate to light beams traveling along a path corresponding to a direct path of radiation from the radiation source to the detector elements in the assembled array, etching the collimator substrate to form channels therein along the exposed area of the substrate, and coating the substrate with a radiation absorbent material.