Patent ID: 6847042

Claim:
An apparatus for detecting X-rays comprising: a scintillator which produces light upon being impacted by an X-ray photon, which is referred to as an X-ray photon event; a photocathode adjacent the scintillator and which emits a plurality of photoelectrons in response to light from the scintillator; a gas electron multiplier adjacent the scintillator to receive the plurality of photoelectrons and having a plurality of stages; a two dimensional array of charge collection electrodes positioned to receive photoelectrons emitted by the gas electron multiplier in response to receipt of the plurality of photoelectrons from the scintillator, wherein each charge collection electrode produces an electrical signal indicating a quantity of photoelectrons which have struck that respective charge collection electrode; and a signal processor which analyzes the electrical signals from a two dimensional matrix of a plurality of the charge collection electrodes in the two dimensional array to determine a location of the X-ray photon event.