The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 16, 1979
Filed:
Jun. 20, 1977
Richard C Lanza, Cambridge, MA (US);
A Robert Sohval, Cambridge, MA (US);
Butler-Newton, Inc., Newton, MA (US);
Abstract
A radiation imaging system employs a superheated, superconducting colloid detector subjected to an external magnetic field so that the colloid grains are maintained in a metastable superconducting state in the absence of radiation. Intersecting sets of select wires are imbedded in the detector that divide the detector into volumetric resolution elements. Grains in each resolution element that absorb photons emanating from an object 'flip' to the normal conducting state. By applying coincident currents to the select wires defining each element, a local magnetic field is produced that opposes the external field so that all the 'flipped' grains are reset to the superconducting state. This produces a flux change proportional to the number of photons incident on that element which is sensed and used to develop an x-ray image of the object.