General Electric Company

Ge Precision Healthcare LLC

Ge Medical Systems Israel, Ltd

Yariv Grobshtein

Jean-Paul Bouhnik

Yaron Hefetz

Gil Kovalski

Yulim Zingerman

Jonathan Sachs

Arie Eshco

Shai Wald

Michal Maria Merman

Raz Carmi

Tzachi Rafaeli

Ken Efrati

Nurit Rivka Wartski

Riyad Mahameed

Shiran Golan

Gillan Michael Grimberg

Einat Binyamin

Avi Bar-Shalev

Lana Volokh

Sergio Steinfeld

Moshe Levy

Michael Kogan

Gil Amisar

Michael Gaisinsky

Ruben Brenner

A nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, detector units, and at least one processor. The gantry defines a bore. The detector units are mounted to the gantry and configured to rotate as a group with the gantry around the bore in rotational steps, with each detector unit configured to sweep about a corresponding axis and acquire imaging information while sweeping about the corresponding axis. The at least one processor is coupled to the detector units and configured to determine a region of interest (ROI) of the object to be imaged; determine a sweeping configuration based on the size of the ROI; determine a rotational movement configuration for the gantry using the determined sweeping configuration; and control the gantry and the set of detector units to utilize the determined rotational movement and sweeping configurations during acquisition of imaging information.

Systems and methods for image quality enhancement for multi-head camera

An imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, at least five detector units mounted to the gantry, a corresponding collimator for each of the detector units, at least one processing unit, and a controller. Each collimator has septa defining plural bores for each pixel of at least some of a plurality of pixels of the detector unit. A corresponding interior septum of the collimator is disposed above an internal portion of a corresponding pixel of the at least some of the plurality of pixels. The at least one processing unit is configured to obtain object information corresponding to the object to be imaged. The controller is configured to control an independent rotational movement of each the detector units used to acquire scanning information by detecting emissions from the object, wherein the controller rotates each of the detector units at a corresponding sweep rate.

Systems and methods for controlling motion of detectors having moving detector heads

A nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, plural detector units mounted to the gantry, and at least one processor. The at least one processor is operably coupled to at least one of the detector units, and configured to acquire, via the detector units, imaging information. The imaging information includes edge information and interior information. The edge information corresponds to a contour boundary of tissue and the interior information corresponds to an intermediate portion of the tissue. The least one processor is configured to control the detector units to acquire a proportionally larger amount of imaging information for the contour boundary than for the intermediate portion.

A system is provided that includes a gantry, detector units, and at least one processor. The gantry defines a bore. The plural detector units are mounted to the gantry and configured to rotate as a group with the gantry in rotational steps. Each detector unit is configured to acquire imaging information while sweeping about a corresponding axis. The at least one processor is configured to determine a region of interest (ROI) of an object; identify a set of detector units; for the identified set of detector units, determine a sweeping configuration that results in a predetermined percentage of projection pixels receiving information from the ROI; determine a rotational movement configuration for the gantry using the determined sweeping configuration; and control the gantry and the set of detector units to utilize the determined rotational movement and sweeping configurations during acquisition of imaging information.

Nuclear medicine (NM) imaging system includes a plurality of detector assemblies that each have a movable arm and a detector head that is coupled to the movable arm. The movable arm is configured to move the detector head toward and away from an object. The NM imaging system also includes at least one processor configured to determine a body contour of the object and determine an acquisition configuration using the body contour. The acquisition configuration includes at least three of the detector heads positioned in a dense group that borders the body contour. The detector heads in the dense group are primary detector heads. The at least one processor is also configured to move at least one of the object or one or more of the primary detector heads so that the primary detector heads are in the dense group near the object.

Nuclear medicine imaging systems and methods having multiple detector assemblies

A nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, plural detector units mounted to the gantry, and at least one processor. Each detector unit defines a detector unit position and corresponding view oriented toward a center of the bore, and is configured to acquire imaging information over a sweep range. The at least one processor is operably coupled to at least one of the detector units, and is configured to acquire, via the detector units, imaging information. The imaging information includes focused imaging information corresponding to a focused region and background imaging information corresponding to surrounding tissue of the focused region. The at least one processor is also configured to reconstruct an image using the focused imaging information and the background imaging information using a first reconstruction technique for the focused imaging information and a different, second reconstruction technique for the background imaging information.

Systems and methods for image quality enhancement for out of focus regions for multi-head camera

An imaging system is provided including a gantry, a detector unit mounted to the gantry, at least one processing unit, and a controller. The at least one processing unit is configured to obtain object information corresponding to an object, and to automatically determine at least one first portion of the object and at least one second portion of the object. The controller is configured to control a rotational movement of the detector unit. The detector unit is rotatable at a sweep rate over a range of view of the object to be imaged, and the controller is configured to rotate the detector unit at an uneven sweep rate. The uneven sweep rate varies during the rotation from the, wherein a larger amount of scanning information is obtained for the at least one first portion than for the at least one second portion.

Methods and systems are provided for calibrating a nuclear medicine imaging system. In one embodiment, a method comprises: detecting, with a plurality of detectors, photons emitted by a calibration source comprising a radioactive line source and a fluorescence source, while pivoting one or more detectors of the plurality of detectors; and calibrating, with a processor communicatively coupled to the plurality of detectors, each detector of the plurality of detectors based on energy measurements of the detected photons. In this way, a two-point energy calibration of detectors can be performed with a single isotope, and without removing or adjusting a collimator attached to the detector.

Systems and methods for calibrating a nuclear medicine imaging system

A customizable and upgradable imaging system is provided. Imaging detector columns are installed in a gantry to receive imaging information about a subject. Imaging detector columns can extend and retract radially as well as be rotated orbitally around the gantry. The gantry can be partially populated with detector columns and the detector columns can be partially populated with detector elements.

Systems for image detection

A radiation detector system is provided that includes plural detector units and at least one processor. The detector units are configured to acquire imaging information at plural corresponding projection angles. The at least one processor is configured to acquire projections at the projection angles; organize the projections into groups based on the projection angles; and, for each group of projections, rotate a corresponding image from an original orientation so that the group of projections are parallel to a first axis of the rotated image, convolute and sum slices from the group of projections using kernels to provide a corresponding coordinate set forward projection; perform a back projection to provide back projections; and rotate the back projections to the original orientation and sum the rotated back projections to provide a back projected transaxial image.

Systems and methods for rotation based reconstruction for multi-column detector geometries

A nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system is provided that includes a gantry defining a bore configured to accept an object to be imaged. The imaging system includes a plurality of detector units coupled to the gantry, with each of the detector units having a respective detector field-of-view (FOV). Each of the detector units is configured to rotate about a respective unit axis, with the plurality of detector units including at least a first and a second detector unit. The imaging system also includes at least one processor configured to execute programmed instructions stored in memory, wherein the at least one processor, when executing the programmed instructions, rotates the first and second detector units as the first and second detector units acquire persistence image data; and generates at least one persistence image based on the persistence image data.

Systems and methods for imaging with multi-head camera

A customizable and upgradeable imaging system is provided. Imaging detector columns are installed in a gantry to receive imaging information about a subject. Imaging detector columns can extend and retract radially as well as be rotated orbitally around the gantry. The gantry can be partially populated with detector columns and the detector columns can be partially populated with detector elements.

Nuclear medicine (NM) multi-head imaging system includes a plurality of detector units coupled to a gantry. The detector units configured to face toward a center of the bore and including a series of first detector units and a second detector unit. The system also includes at least one processor that, when executing programmed instructions, performs the following operations. The at least one processor rotates the first detector units such that the first detector units face in a common first direction that is generally toward the bore. A working gap exists between the detector FOVs of the respective first detector units. The at least one processor rotates the second detector unit such that the second detector unit faces in a second direction that is opposite the first direction. The detector FOV of the second detector unit covers the working gap.

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Haifa, Israel

Yariv Grobshtein