Radiation measuring catheter apparatus and method

摘要

An apparatus for measuring radiation (10) at a region of interest inside a body is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a fiber optic equipped-catheter (12) having a distal portion (18) adapted to be inserted in a blood vessel. The apparatus further includes a luminescent scintillation material (34) coupled to the fiber optic light pipe (32). The scintillation material is disposed in a distal portion of a lumen of the catheter and generates pulses of electromagnetic radiation in response to excitation by radiation rays. The apparatus further includes an index matching material (36) disposed between the scintillation crystal and the fiber optic light pipe facilitating transmission of the pulses of electromagnetic radiation produced by the scintillation material to the fiber optic light pipe. A measuring assembly (11b) is coupled to the fiber optic light pipe to convert the pulses of radiation traversing the fiber optic light pipe to a measure of radiation in the region of interest. A method of measuring radiation using the radiation measuring apparatus of the present invention is also disclosed. The steps of the method comprise: providing a catheter having a fiber optic light pipe coupled to a scintillation material supported by a distal portion of the catheter; inserting the distal portion of the catheter through an opening in the body; maneuvering the catheter to position the distal portion of the catheter within the region of interest; and converting the pulses of electromagnetic radiation transmitted along the fiber optic light pipe into a measure of radiation.