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. 07, 2011
Filed:
Oct. 27, 2008
Thomas Lewellen, Port Ludow, WA (US);
Robert Miyaoka, Shoreline, WA (US);
Abdelmounaime Faouzi Zerrouk, Singapore, SG;
Thomas Lewellen, Port Ludow, WA (US);
Robert Miyaoka, Shoreline, WA (US);
Abdelmounaime Faouzi Zerrouk, Singapore, SG;
Zecotek Imaging Systems Pte. Ltd, Singapore, SG;
Abstract
The invention disclosed herein is directed to scintillation detectors capable of detecting the position or depth of gamma photon interactions occurring within a scintillator, thereby improving the resolution of ring based positron emission tomography (PET) imaging systems. In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a scintillation detector that comprises at least one pair of side-by-side conjunct scintillation crystal bars having a shared interface between, and a solid-state semiconductor photodetector optically coupled to each output window of each individual scintillation crystal bar. The solid-state semiconductor photodetector includes an array of discrete sensitive areas disposed across a top surface of a common substrate, wherein each sensitive area contains an array of discrete micro-pixelated avalanche photodiodes, and wherein the output window of each scintillation crystal bar is optically coupled to each respective sensitive area in a one-on-one relationship.