Patent ID: 7683332

Claim:
An integrated single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/transmission computed tomography (TCT) system for cardiac imaging comprising: a stationary open arc-shaped frame; a stationary open arc-shaped collimator subsystem for optimizing collimation of radiation photons emitted from the heart, the collimator subsystem configured to: approximately match the shape of the thoracic contour of patients having different sizes and weights, position the collimator subsystem closely proximate the heart of a patient, and define a plurality of predetermined imaging volumes each having a central longitudinal axis, each of the plurality of predetermined imaging volumes configured to encompass the heart of patients of different sizes and weights; a stationary arc-shaped detector subsystem proximate to the collimator subsystem and having a shape generally matching the shape of the collimator subsystem and configured to detect collimated radiation photons from the collimator subsystem and generate output electrical signals; a patient positioning subsystem configured to position the patient about and/or up and down the central longitudinal axis of a selected imaging volume of the plurality of predetermined imaging volumes and configured to intermittently and incrementally rotate the patient about a selected central longitudinal axis; and a computer subsystem configured to receive digitized output electrical signals from the detector subsystem and generate a plurality of SPECT or TCT images of the heart.