Patent ID: 8017926

Claim:
A collimator for use with a linear accelerator, comprising: an outer housing having a longitudinal bore therethrough including a segment of a diameter and another segment of a larger diameter; a shield element disposed substantially within the another segment of the longitudinal bore and comprising a bore coaxial with the longitudinal bore and extending to an exterior of the outer housing at one longitudinal end thereof; a converter core disposed in the bore of the shield element and comprising a blind entry bore coaxial with the longitudinal bore and extending to the exterior of the outer housing, and a blind exit bore coaxial with and longitudinally separated from the blind entry bore of the converter core and of a smaller diameter; and a beam channeler disposed substantially within the segment of the longitudinal bore and having an aperture therethrough encompassing a beam aperture coaxially aligned with, and of substantially the same diameter as, the blind exit bore of the converter core, the beam channeler extending from the blind exit bore to an exterior of the outer housing at another longitudinal end thereof opposing the one longitudinal end.