Data reduction architecture for nuclear medicine imagers

Abstract

A subject ( ) is disposed adjacent a detector array ( ) for the purposes of nuclear imaging. The subject ( ) is injected with a radioactive isotope ( ) and &ggr;-ray emissions indicative of nuclear decay are detected at the detector array ( ) these signals are processed and reconstructed into an image representation of the anatomy of the subject ( ). A dual level arbitration system orders detected signals for ease of processing and efficiency of reconstruction. The first level of the arbiter monitors a group of individual detectors ( ). It locks out any signal that arrives from its group of detectors if a previous signal is still being analyzed. This avoids paralyzation of the system. The second level of the arbiter consists of a plurality of memories, one for each group of individual detectors ( ) that store an address and energy of each processed signal. These memories pass a token around among themselves, and if they possess the token, as well as data, they load that data onto a data collection bus, which transfers it to an event archive ( ) for storage until enough data is collected to be reconstructed into an image of the subject ( ).