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:
Jun. 02, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 29, 1997
Peter Nelleman, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Hugo Bertelsen, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Horace Hines, San Jose, CA (US);
ADAC Laboratories, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for enhancing the resolution of a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) image in a Nuclear Camera System that is configurable to performs both PET and SPECT imaging. The apparatus includes a crystal that interacts with a gamma ray to create a scintillation event within the surface of the crystal. The gamma rays that impinge the crystal have an incident angle that is limited by a field of view of the crystal. Positioned behind the crystal is a detector that responds to the light photons released by the scintillation event and registers a coordinate value of the scintillation event. Coupled to the detector is a resolution enhancer that generates an in-crystal plane displacement correction value for the coordinate value registered by the detector. The in-crystal plane displacement correction value is then combined with the coordinate value to compute the actual entry point of the gamma ray into the crystal.