Claims
- 1. An apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of photomultiplier tubes; and a scintillation crystal array coupled to the plurality of photomultiplier tubes, the scintillation crystal array defining a plurality of corner edges; wherein a first corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is aligned with a first center of a first photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes and a second corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a second center of a second photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a third corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a third center of a third of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scintillation crystal array includes n x m crystals selected from the group consisting of bismuth germanium oxide, germanium silicate, and lutetium oxyorthosilicate, where n is a width of the scintillation crystal array and m is a length of the scintillation crystal array
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a fourth corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a fourth center of a fourth of the photomultiplier tubes.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the scintillation crystal array includes n2 crystals selected from the group consisting of bismuth germanium oxide, germanium silicate, and lutetium oxyorthosilicate, where n is a matrix size of the scintillation crystal array.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising another scintillation crystal array coupled to the first photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes, the another scintillation crystal array defining another corner edge that is aligned with the first center of the first of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a light guide coupled between the plurality of photomultiplier tubes and the scintillation crystal array.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scintillation crystal array is tapered in an in-plane dimension of the scintillation crystal array.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the scintillation crystal array is tapered in accordance with the following equation:
- 10. A positron emission tomography camera comprising the apparatus of claim 1.
- 11. A method, comprising:
coupling a plurality of photomultiplier tubes to a scintillation crystal array, the scintillation crystal array defining a plurality of corner edges, wherein a first corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is aligned with a first center of a first photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes and a second corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a second center of a second photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein a third corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a third center of a third of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the scintillation crystal array includes n x m crystals selected from the group consisting of bismuth germanium oxide, germanium silicate, and lutetium oxyorthosilicate.
- 14. The method of claim 11, wherein a fourth corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a fourth center of a fourth of the photomultiplier tubes.
- 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the scintillation crystal array includes n2 crystals selected from the group consisting of bismuth germanium oxide, germanium silicate, and lutetium oxyorthosilicate.
- 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising coupling another scintillation crystal array to the first photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes, the another scintillation crystal array defining another corner edge that is aligned with the first center of the first of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising coupling a light guide between the plurality of photomultiplier tubes and the scintillation crystal array.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the scintillation crystal array is tapered in an in-plane dimension of the scintillation crystal array.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the scintillation crystal array is tapered in accordance with the following equation:
- 20. A method, comprising detecting radiation with a scintillation crystal array coupled to a plurality of photomultiplier tubes, the scintillation crystal array defining a plurality of corner edges, wherein a first corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is aligned with a first center of a first photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes and a second corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a second center of a second photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 21. The method of claim 20, wherein a third corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a third center of a third of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the scintillation crystal array includes n x m crystals selected from the group consisting of bismuth germanium oxide, germanium silicate, and lutetium oxyorthosilicate.
- 23. The method of claim 20, wherein a fourth corner edge of the plurality of corner edges is not aligned with a fourth center of a fourth of the photomultiplier tubes.
- 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the scintillation crystal array includes n2 crystals selected from the group consisting of bismuth germanium oxide and lutetium oxyorthosilicate.
- 25. The method of claim 20, further comprising coupling another scintillation crystal array to the first photomultiplier tube of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes, the another scintillation crystal array defining another corner edge that is aligned with the first center of the first of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes.
- 26. The method of claim 20, further comprising guiding a photon from the scintillation crystal array to at least one of the plurality of photomultiplier tubes via a light guide.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is related to and claims a benefit of priority to copending U.S. Ser. No. 60/353,135, filed on Feb. 1, 2002, the entire contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference for all purposes.
STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
[0002] This invention was made with United States Government support under contract to the National Institute of Health. The Government may have certain rights in this invention.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60353135 |
Feb 2002 |
US |