Patent · US Expired

Deadtime correction in a nuclear medicine imaging system

US5999588A · kind A · utility

18Cited by
15References
30Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 17, 1998
Grant dateDec 7, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 17, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01T1/171
  • WIPO fieldEnvironmental technology
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

A method of correcting for deadtime in an attenuation map generated by a nuclear medicine imaging system is provided. The imaging system includes a gamma ray detector that is rotatable about an object to be imaged. A region is defined on the imaging surface of the detector, such as the edge of the field of view of the detector, such that during a transmission scan of the object, the radiation shadow of the object is substantially less likely to fall upon the defined region than upon other regions of the imaging surface. A blank transmission scan is then performed, including recording the radiation intensity level detected in the region as a reference intensity level. A transmission scan of the object is then performed to acquire an attenuation map of the object, including recording a radiation intensity level detected in the first region during the transmission scan. A correction value is then determined as the ratio of the reference intensity level to the intensity level detected in the region during the transmission scan. The attenuation map is then corrected for deadtime based on the correction value.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.