Patent ID: 7863574

Claim:
A multimodality imaging system comprising: a gantry with a stationary unit and a rotating it rotatable around a rotation axis and providing an opening extending along the rotation axis through which a subject is insertable, a support table coupled to the stationary unit for supporting a subject, a table drive unit coupled to the support table for translating the support table in a direction extending along the rotation axis, a CT source coupled to the rotating unit, the CT source being configured to emit a fan beam through the opening, a CT detector coupled to the rotating unit opposite the CT source, the CT detector being configured to detect the fan beam, and a nuclear imaging detector coupled to the rotating unit, the nuclear imaging detector being configured to detect nuclear radiation emitted from within the opening in a direction differing from a propagation direction of the fan beam; and a control unit configured to, during operation of the multimodality imaging system, cause the rotating unit to rotate with a revolution time of one second or less, and to control the translation of the support table such that the CT detector performs diagnostic quality CT imaging of the subject and the nuclear imaging detector performs a spiral scan of the subject, whereby the multimodality imaging system acquires spatio-temporally consistent transmission CT data and emission nuclear imaging data wherein zonal information defines a separation of the nuclear field-of-view into at least two zones and is derived from the transmission CT data.