Reflector and light collimator arrangement for improved light collection in scintillation detectors

US8426823B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NV · NL

Inventors

• Volkmar Schulz · Schwarzenbruck, DE
• Carsten Degenhardt · Aachen, DE
• Jerome J. Griesmer · Mentor, US
• Steven E. Cooke · Garfield Heights, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 12, 2008
• Grant date: Apr 23, 2013
• Expiry date: Jan 15, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01T1/202
• WIPO field: Environmental technology
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

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 (18), a first reflective layer (44) partially envelops a scintillation crystal (34). The first reflective layer (44) diffuses the scintillated light. A second reflective layer (46) and a support component reflective layer (48) prevent the light from leaving the scintillation crystal (34) by any route except a light emitting face (36) of the scintillator (34). In another embodiment, a light concentrator (50) is coupled to the scintillator (34) and channels the diffuse light onto a light sensitive portion of a photodetector (38). The reflective layers (44, 46, 48) and the concentrator (50) ensure that all or nearly all of the light emitted by the scintillator (34) is received by the photodetector (38).