PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15574721
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-04
Publication Date: 2018-08
Patent Classification: ["250", "370090"]

Abstract:
A Compton camera system and method for detecting gamma radiation, comprising a gamma radiation source, at least one fast scintillator plate P1 of which the rise time to peak light is less than 1 ns, having a thickness greater than or equal to 5 mm, equipped with an array of segmented photodetectors ( 5 ) and a dedicated fast-reading microelectronic means. The system is characterised in that it is capable of measuring the spatial and temporal coordinates (X, Y, Z, T) and energy E at at least two successive positions of a gamma photon when said photon undergoes Compton scattering at a first point A before being absorbed at a second point B, by recognising circles of non-scattered photons corresponding to each scintillation interaction. The system has a module for estimating a valid Compton event. The detection system has two scintillator plates P1 and P2.

Claim (Index 13):
A process for determining spatiotemporal coordinates (X, Y, Z, T) and the energy E in at least two successive positions of a gamma photon having undergone Compton scattering performed in a system according to  claim 1  comprising:\n detection of an arrival time Ta of the unscattered photons emitted by the Compton scattering at a first point A; \n detection of an arrival time Tb of the unscattered photons emitted at a second point B by the total absorption of the gamma photon; \n determination of a circle C A  corresponding to the unscattered photons emitted by the Compton deviation of the gamma radiation at point A, the diameter of the circle C A  measuring Xa, Ya and Za; \n determination of a circle C B  corresponding to the unscattered photons emitted by the total absorption of the gamma photon at point B, the diameter of the circle C B  measuring Xb, Yb and Zb; \n when the photons emitted during the Compton scattering at A and the total absorption at B remain in the same light cone of the unscattered photons emitted at A, the angle \u03b1 C <\u03b8 C  where \u03b1 C  is the Compton deviation and \u03b8 C  is the critical angle of total reflection and the circle C B  is included in the circle C A , in this first case, the process further comprises following steps: \n calculation of the diameters of said circles C A  and C B  to measure (Xa, Ya, Za) and (Xb, Yb, Zb); \n enumeration of the numbers of photons in said registered circles C A  and C B ; \n definition of the energy of a gamma photon, said energies Ea and Eb being proportional to the number of photons counted inside said circles C A  and C B ; or \n when the photon having undergone Compton deviation exits from the light cone, \u03b1 C >\u03b8 C , the distance between the points A and B is large and the circles C A  and C B  are separate, in this second configuration, the process further comprises: \n determination of a first event A corresponding to the strongest energy; \n measuring of coordinates (Xa, Ya, Za, Ta) of said event at A and its energy Ea; \n determination of a second event B corresponding to the lowest energy; \n measuring of coordinates of the event (Xb, Yb, Zb, Tb) and its energy Eb; \n measuring of the initial energy of the gamma photon equivalent to the sum of the energies Ea+Eb; \n determination of a Compton angle of deviation by reconstituting the position of the two interactions; \n deduction of the arrival direction of the gamma photon, from the position of the point A (Xa, Ya, Za), the position of the point B (Xb, Yb, Zb) and the energies Ea and Eb; or \n when the photon having undergone Compton deviation exits from the light cone \u03b1 C >\u03b8 C , the distance between the points A and B is small and the circles C A  and C B  are joined, in this third case, the process can comprise the following steps: \n adjustment of the distribution of light by an ellipsis of center A, the point B occupies one of the focuses, the semi minor axis corresponds to the radius RA of the circle C A  and the semi major axis corresponds to the distance A\u2212B+RB, where RB is the radius of the circle C B ; \n determination of the position of the point A given by the center of the ellipsis; \n determination of the depth of interaction Za at A which is given by the semi major axis of the ellipsis RA; \n calculation of the time Ta by correcting the times measured with Za; \n determination of the position of the point B (Xb, Yb) which is given by the focus of the ellipsis; \n determination of the depth of interaction Zb at B which is given by RB calculated from the semi major axis of the ellipsis: by Distance (A\u2212B)+RB; \n calculation of the time Tb by correcting the times measured with Zb; \n measuring of the total energy Ea+Eb by integrating the photons over the whole of said ellipsis; \n measuring of the barycenter of the distribution of the photons in the ellipsis; \n determination of the initial point of interaction A or B, said initial point is that which is the closest to the barycenter; \n determination of the Compton angle of deviation ac by reconstituting the position of the two interactions at A and at B.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 7.0
- Percentile: 91.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.55882
- Patent Class: 250.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['14438163', '15310964', '15553275', '14063611', '11371573']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.6678513748908494
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5055787431688521
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.6516241117186498
- Mean Citation Score: 222.537636
- Max Citation Score: 287.83145
- Similarity Product: 244.4034811421872

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test