Patent ID: 7212848

Claim:
An optical CT scanner for small laboratory animals, comprising: a) a housing having a vertical through opening through which a test subject is passed through during a scanning session; b) said housing including a peripheral slot disposed around the perimeter of said opening; c) a movable horizontal table disposed through said opening, said table being split with a horizontal slot aligned with said peripheral slot; d) a light beam directed toward said peripheral and horizontal slots, said light beam being orbitable around said opening; e) a plurality of collimators directed toward said peripheral and horizontal slots, said collimators being orbitable together with said light beam around said opening; f) a plurality of main photodetectors operably associated with respective collimators to detect said light beam after passing through the test subject; g) a perimeter photodetector adapted to provide perimeter data of the test subject during a scanning session; and h) a first computer programmed to reconstruct an image of the test subject from the output of said main and perimeter photodetectors.