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:
Sep. 26, 1989
Filed:
Jan. 24, 1989
Carl J Brunnett, Willoughby Hills, OH (US);
Rodney A Mattson, Mentor, OH (US);
Picker International, Inc., Cleveland, OH (US);
Abstract
An improved computed tomography radiation detector is disclosed. One embodiment includes first and second layers of crystalline scintilation material mutually aligned in a path of x-rays to be detected, to receive the x-rays in sequence. The layer upstream in the x-ray path comprises a scintillation material having a relatively high efficiency for converting x-ray energy to light. The downstream one of the layers comprises a scintillation material having a relatively lower efficiency for x-ray/light conversion. A photodiode is positioned to view both scintillation layers simultaneously and to respond to scintillations in either or both. Scintillation crystal material surfaces can be coated with reflective material to enhance the effects of their scintillations. The photodiode thus combines x-ray indicating scintillations from both crystals while in analog form. The detector exhibits enhanced response to lower energy x-rays. Another embodiment comprises a photodiode and an optically coupled scintillation crystal, with the photodiode upstream in the x-ray beam path relative to the crystal.