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:
Apr. 23, 2013
Filed:
Aug. 12, 2008
Volkmar Schulz, Wureselen, DE;
Carsten Degenhardt, Aachen, DE;
Jerome J. Griesmer, Mentor, OH (US);
Steven E. Cooke, Garfield Heights, OH (US);
Volkmar Schulz, Wureselen, DE;
Carsten Degenhardt, Aachen, DE;
Jerome J. Griesmer, Mentor, OH (US);
Steven E. Cooke, Garfield Heights, OH (US);
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Eindhoven, NL;
Abstract
In nuclear imaging, when a gamma ray strikes a scintillator, a burst of visible light is created. That light is detected by a photodetector and processed by downstream electronics. It is desirable to harness as much of the burst of light as possible and get it to the photodetector. In a detector element (), a first reflective layer () partially envelops a scintillation crystal (). The first reflective layer () diffuses the scintillated light. A second reflective layer () and a support component reflective layer () prevent the light from leaving the scintillation crystal () by any route except a light emitting face () of the scintillator (). In another embodiment, a light concentrator () is coupled to the scintillator () and channels the diffuse light onto a light sensitive portion of a photodetector (). The reflective layers () and the concentrator () ensure that all or nearly all of the light emitted by the scintillator () is received by the photodetector ().