Fiber-optic encoding for dual transmission measurements in positron emission tomography

摘要

A coincidence transmission source serves to detect coincident activity from a radiation source. The coincidence transmission source includes a detector dedicated to collecting attenuation data. A collimated radiation source and a detector are positioned with respect to a tomography device such that only a selected strip of the imaging detector of the tomograph is illuminated such that events unrelated to the attenuation are eliminated. The coincidence transmission source includes a collimator in which is disposed a radiation source. Fiber optics are interconnected between a plurality of dedicated gamma radiation detectors and a plurality of photomultiplier tubes. The arrangement of fiber optics is designed such that the address of a particular gamma radiation detector is readily discernable while minimizing the number of PMT's required to process data accumulated by the gamma radiation detectors. In one embodiment, the attenuation point sources are disposed in a two-dimensional array to effectively minimize gamma crosstalk.