Patent ID: 7286867

Claim:
A combined positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner comprising: a magnet for producing a magnetic field suitable for magnetic resonance imaging; a radio frequency (RF) coil disposed within the magnetic field produced by said magnet; and a ring tomograph disposed within the magnetic field produced by said magnet, said ring tomograph including: a scintillator layer for outputting at least one photon in response to an annihilation event; a detection array coupled to said scintillator layer for detecting the at least one photon outputted by said scintillator layer and for outputting a detection signal in response to the detected photon; a front-end electronic array coupled to said detection array for receiving said detection signal, said front-end array having a preamplifier and a shaper network for conditioning said detection signal; and a serial encoder for generating a digital signal based on said detection signal, said digital signal comprising time-of-occurrence and channel information corresponding to the detected photon.