BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow chart depicting a method for manufacturing an isolating plate for imaging array according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting a method for manufacturing an imaging array according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an isolating plate for imaging array according to the present invention.
FIG. 3B is an A-A′ sectional view of the isolating plate of FIG. 3A.
FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an array of lattices according to the present invention.
FIG. 4B is a perspective view of an imaging array according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a performance comparison between an imaging array of the invention with other imaging arrays.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
For your esteemed members of reviewing committee to further understand and recognize the fulfilled functions and structural characteristics of the invention, several preferable embodiments cooperating with detailed description are presented as the follows.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a flow chart depicting a method for manufacturing an isolating plate for imaging array according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The method of FIG. 1 starts at step 10. At step 10, a substrate is provided, whereas the substrate can be a plastic substrate made of a plastic material, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethelyne (PE), or a polyester film, etc., but is not limited thereby; and then the flow proceeds to step 11. At step 11, a mirror film is coated on the two surface of the substrate so as to form a mirror substrate with light reflecting ability, and then the flow proceeds to step 12. In a preferred aspect, the coating of the mirror film is processed by a means of evaporation, such as a low-temperature plasma evaporation, whereas the mirror film can be made of a metal material, such as aluminum, silver, etc, or polymer material, but is not limited thereby. At step 12, a comb-like isolating plate is manufactured by forming a plurality of notches on the mirror substrate by a means of laser cutting, while enabling the width of each notch to be equal to the thickness of the substrate.
Utilizing the abovementioned comb-like isolating plate, an imaging array can be manufactured that the flow chart depicting a method for manufacturing an imaging array is shown in FIG. 2. The flow starts at step 20. At step 20, a substrate is provided, and then the flow proceeds to step 21. At step 21, a mirror film is coated on the two surface of the substrate so as to form a mirror substrate with light reflecting ability, and then the flow proceeds to step 22. At step 22, a comb-like isolating plate is manufactured by forming a plurality of notches on the mirror substrate by a means of laser cutting, and then the flow proceeds to step 23. It is noted that the characteristics of step 20, 21, 22 are the same as those of step 10, 11, 12 shown in FIG. 1, and thus are not described further herein.
At step 23, a plurality of such comb-like isolating plates are provided and assembled to form an array with a plurality of isolated lattices, whereas the assembly is performed by aligning the notches of any two such comb-like isolating plates to face toward each other and then inserting one comb-like isolating plate into the notches of another comb-like isolating plate and vice versa, and then the flow proceeds to step 24. At step 24, in each lattice of the so-assembled array, a scintillator segment is inserted therein so as to complete the manufacturing of an imaging array, and then the flow proceeds to step 25. At step 25, a thin film is provided for wrapping the periphery of the imaging array thereby, whereas the thin film can be made of a self-adhesive, opaque material, such as a self-adhesive aluminum foil.
Please refer to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, which are perspective view of an isolating plate for imaging array and the A-A′ sectional view thereof, respectively. As a 5×5 array is used as an illustration and shown in the embodiment of FIG. 3A, the comb-like isolating plate 30 is substantially a substrate comprised of five comb teeth 302 and four notches 301. The substrate 300 can be made of a plastic material, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethelyne (PE), or a polyester film, etc., while the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate 300 are coated with a mirror film 303 with light reflecting ability. It is noted that the mirror film 303 can be made of metal material or polymer materials, whereas the metal material can be aluminum or silver, etc, but is not limited thereby.
Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a perspective view of an array of lattices according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, a plurality of such comb-like isolating plates 30 are provided and assembled to form a 5×5 array with a plurality of isolated lattices 31, whereas the assembly is performed by aligning the notches of any two such comb-like isolating plates 30 to face toward each other and then inserting one comb-like isolating plate into the notches of another comb-like isolating plate and vice versa. Please refer to FIG. 4B, which is a perspective view of an imaging array according to the present invention. In FIG. 4B, in each lattice 31 of the so-assembled 5×5 array, a scintillator segment 32 is inserted therein so as to complete the manufacturing of an imaging array 3. In addition, a thin film 33 is provided for wrapping the periphery of the imaging array thereby for solidifying the whole structure of the imaging array 3, whereas the thin film 33 can be made of a self-adhesive, opaque material, such as a self-adhesive aluminum foil.
Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows a performance comparison between an imaging array of the invention with other imaging arrays. The performance comparison is performed by placing the 5×5 imaging array of the invention, a 5×5 imaging array made of VM 2000 and a 5×5 imaging array manufactured by a conventional wrapping method in the center area of a photomultiplier simultaneously. In FIG. 5, as each dot represents a scintillator segment and thus each 5×5 imaging array is represented by a block of 25 dots, it is considered that the performance of an imaging array is good when all 25 dots of that imaging array are clearly identifiable and distinct from each other. In FIG. 5, the three imaging arrays 90, 91, 92 are all composed of 25 1 mm×1 mm scintillator segments, which are respectively a 5×5 imaging array of the invention, an 5×5 imaging array made of VM 2000 and a 5×5 imaging array manufactured by a conventional wrapping method. Moreover, the two imaging arrays 93, 94 are all manufactured by a conventional wrapping method, whereas the imaging array 93 is composed of 25 1.2 mm×1.2 mm scintillator segments and the imaging array is composed of 25 1.8 mm×1.8 mm scintillator segments. It is noted that the smaller the scintillation segments are, the better the resolution a probe can provide. As shown in FIG. 5, the dots of the conventional imaging array 94 of 1.8 mm×1.8 mm scintillator segments are clearly identifiable and distinct from each other, but the dots of the conventional imaging array 93 of 1.2 mm×1.2 mm scintillator segments can only be barely identifiable and distinct from each other. As for those imaging arrays composed of 1 mm×1 mm scintillator segments, only the dots of the one made of VM 2000 and the imaging array of the invention can be clearly identifiable and distinct from each other. The aforesaid performance differences are directly resulting from the superiority of the light-collecting ability of the five imaging arrays 90-94. The better the light-collecting ability of an imaging array is, the higher the signal to noise ratio (SNR) will be and thus the better the resolution can be. Hence, it is concluded that the performance of the imaging array of the invention is equal to that of the imaging array made of VM 2000, but under the condition that the imaging array of the present invention is not only cheaper, but also is comparatively easier to assemble.
To sum up, the imaging array of the invention is preferred by its inexpensive manufacturing cost, good light-collecting ability and uncomplicated assembly process.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refer to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C . . . and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.
Patent Application
20070262261
