Patent ID: 8426822

Claim:
A method for creating an image of a target, the method comprising: emitting positrons from a first location that collide with electrons at the first location, wherein each collision results in the emission of a first photon and a second photon; intercepting by a first detector at least a portion of the emitted first photons and measuring a first trajectory and a first time associated with each of the intercepted first photons based on at least the first location; calculating by an imaging software module installed on a computer a second time and a second trajectory associated with each of at least a portion of the second photons in accordance with the measured first trajectories and a first times associated with each of the intercepted first photons; receiving at an imaging detector multiple photons and generating scatter energy and scatter time data for each of the multiple photons, wherein a least a portion of the multiple photons are single-scatter photons resulting from a single collision between a second photon and the target; filtering by the imaging software module the multiple photons using the scatter energy and scatter time data to identify and retain the single-scatter photons for imaging; calculating by the imaging software module a scatter trajectory and a scatter time associated with each of the retained single-scatter photons; calculating by the imaging software module multiple positions within the target based on the second times, the second trajectories, the scatter times and the scatter trajectories; and creating by the imaging software module a three-dimensional image of the target using at least the calculated multiple positions.