Invention:
This technology is a calibration method that could be a game changer for adoption of photon counting-based imagery. It solves long-standing challenges in the calibration of detectors used in medical imaging devices and is also useful for security screenings and other imaging photon counting detectors. The method is simple to use, requires less time than conventional calibration methods, and is easy to implement, while also pushing the current state of the art into additional applications.
Background:
The calibration process for photon counting-based imagery has been a hindrance to its broader adoption. The relative signal strengths of the light sensors within the photon counting detectors are used to estimate the position and energy attributes of each gamma-ray interaction. Several methods consisting of simple linear combinations of signals are conventionally used to estimate gamma-ray interaction position for monolithic crystal gamma-ray detectors. In order to apply these methods, detector calibration is necessary to determine the detector sensors response as a function of gamma-ray interaction position. However, each of these methods has significant disadvantages, such as being very time consuming or being unable to calibrate depth of interaction information. Accordingly, what is needed is an improved method for calibrating gamma-ray and photon counting detectors.
Applications:
- Diagnostic imaging instruments, imaging centers and software providers
- Hospitals and contract research organizations (CROs)
- Medical research laboratories
- Academic medical centers and universities
- Security screening
Advantages:
- Reliable
- Easy to use
- Efficient and precise
- Allows for use of the whole camera frame
- 3D calibration
- Improves imaging accuracy
Status: issued U.S. patent #11,531,126
