Quantex Corporation

Peter K Soltani

George M Storti

Joseph Lindmayer

Charles Y Wrigley

Ramon E Creager

A high resolution photostimulable storage phosphor screen for breast imaging using X-rays. The phosphor material for storing the image, SrS;Ce,Sm, is appropriately milled to a fine powder and dispersed, using appropriate methods, with high particle packing density, on a supporting substrate. The coated substrate froms a planar imaging screen for mammography. The phosphor screen of the present invention can record high quality digital (as opposed to analog) images for diagnostic breast imaging.

Imaging system for mamography employing electron trapping materials

A fiber optic dosimeter in which an electron trapping material is held in a probe on the tip of an optical fiber. The probe is placed in a region with the radiation to be measured, and the opposite end of the optical fiber, from which radiation readings are measured, is placed in a location remote from the radiation source. When radiation impinges upon the electron trapping material, electrons in the material are raised to a higher state where they are trapped and stay indefinitely. When infrared light strikes the material, the stored electrons are released from their traps and, upon falling to a lower energy level, emit visible light which can be detected and measured. Thus, to measure the amount of ambient radiation, the electron trapping material is stimulated with infrared light from an infrared source at the opposite end of the optical fiber. This infrared stimulation releases trapped electrons and causes the emission of visible light, at least a portion of which is collected and directed back down the optical fiber to the visible light detector, where it is converted into an electrical signal and measured. The infrared stimulation is modulated to allow for measurement of background fluorescence during radiation exposure when infrared stimulation is not applied. This background fluorescence is then substracted from the gross signal under infrared stimulation to yield a signal which changes linearly with radiation input.

Fiber optic dosimeter using electron trapping materials employing

An article, having particular use as a scintillator, includes a thin film of calcium sulfide on a substrate, such as alumina, quartz, sapphire, or most glasses. The material is first formed in bulk with cerium sulfide, cerium oxide, or cerium, and lithium fluoride. The material is applied by physical vapor deposition in a relatively thin film to the substrate, and then at least the luminescent material is subjected to a high temperature for a period of time to effect recrystallization and activation of the material, such that the material acquires luminescent characteristics.

Thin film inorganic scintillator and method of making same

In a preferred embodiment, a radioluminescent lamp having a glass face plate with a plurality of parallel planar light guides, each preferably having a transparent glass, sapphire or quartz base member, disposed perpendicularly with respect to the glass face plate and coated on both sides with a thin film of radioluminescent phosphor material. The plates are mounted in a sealed envelope filled with tritium gas, the radioactive decay of the tritium causing the phosphor to luminesce. The phosphor material and all but one of the edges of each light guide are overcoated with a reflective material, such as aluminum, to guide the generated light to a single edge of the light guide, which edge is adjacent the glass face plate. The phosphor is preferably a calcium sulfide-based material forming a continuous, binder-free layer on the transparent base member. The resulting structure has a high phosphor-surface-area to tritium-gas-volume ratio and directional light guiding, yielding a substantially higher output light density than conventional radioluminescent lamps.

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Olney, MD, United States of America

Peter K Soltani