Patent ID: 8831180

Claim:
A collimator for an imaging system comprising: a first region comprising a plurality of planar collimating plates arranged to form a first one-dimensional array of apertures along an x-direction of the imaging system; a second region comprising a plurality of planar collimating plates arranged to form a second one-dimensional array of apertures along the x-direction, wherein an aspect ratio of the apertures of the first region is greater than an aspect ratio of the second region; and a third region comprising a plurality of planar collimating plates arranged to form a third one-dimensional array of apertures along the x-direction; wherein a first boundary is formed between the first region and the second region and a second boundary is formed between the first region and the third region; wherein the first region includes a centermost channel in the x-direction, such that the first region collimates x-rays that pass through an isocenter of the imaging system; wherein the second region is offset from the first region in the x-direction such that the second region does not include the centermost channel but is positioned to collimate x-rays that pass off-center from the isocenter of the imaging system; and wherein the first boundary and the second boundary are asymmetrically positioned in the x-direction such that the first boundary is a distance from the centermost channel that is different from a distance between the second boundary and the centermost channel.