US-12622661-B2 - Systems and methods for controlling motion of detectors having moving detector heads

Abstract

An imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, at least five detector units mounted to the gantry, a corresponding collimator for each of the detector units, at least one processing unit, and a controller. Each collimator has septa defining plural bores for each pixel of at least some of a plurality of pixels of the detector unit. A corresponding interior septum of the collimator is disposed above an internal portion of a corresponding pixel of the at least some of the plurality of pixels. The at least one processing unit is configured to obtain object information corresponding to the object to be imaged. The controller is configured to control an independent rotational movement of each the detector units used to acquire scanning information by detecting emissions from the object, wherein the controller rotates each of the detector units at a corresponding sweep rate.

Inventors

• Jean-Paul Bouhnik
• Tzachi Rafaeli
• Gil Kovalski
• Yariv Grobshtein
• Riyad Mahameed
• Yaron Hefetz
• Einat Binyamin
• Yulim Zingerman
• Nurit Rivka Wartski

Assignees

• GE Precision Healthcare LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230213

Claims (18)

1. 1 . An imaging system comprising: a gantry; a plurality of detector units mounted to the gantry, each of the detector units comprising a plurality of pixels and configured to acquire scanning information by detecting emissions from an object; a controller configured to control an independent rotational movement of each of the detector units used to acquire scanning information, wherein the controller rotates each of the detector units at a corresponding sweep rate for each detector unit used to acquire the scanning information, wherein the controller is configured to acquire scanning information for a first region of interest and a second region of interest, wherein the controller is configured to use a first detector unit to acquire information from both of the first region of interest and the second region of interest, and to use a second detector unit to acquire information from only one of the first region of interest or the second region of interest.
2. 2 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to advance the first detector unit to a position that is at least partially interposed between the first region of interest and the second region of interest.
3. 3 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to position the second detector unit at a position that is not interposed between the first region of interest and the second region of interest.
4. 4 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to maintain at least one detector in an idle position.
5. 5 . The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first region of interest or the second region of interest includes a region of greater interest and a region of lesser interest, wherein the greater interest and lesser interest are based on clinical interest for a particular application.
6. 6 . The imaging system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to sweep at least one of the detectors at a lower sweep rate for the region of greater interest than for the region of lesser interest.
7. 7 . The imaging system of claim 6 , wherein the region of lesser interest is interposed between two regions of greater interest for the first detector unit.
8. 8 . The imaging system of claim 6 , wherein the region of greater interest is interposed between two regions of lesser interest for the second detector unit.
9. 9 . A method comprising: positioning a plurality of detector units about an object, each of the detector units comprising a plurality of pixels and configured to acquire scanning information by detecting emissions from an object; controlling independent rotational movement of the detector units used to acquire scanning information at a corresponding sweep rate for each detector unit used to acquire the scanning information, wherein scanning information is acquired for a first region of interest and a second region of interest, wherein a first detector unit is used to acquire information from both of the first region of interest and the second region of interest, and a second detector unit is used to acquire information from only one of the first region of interest or the second region of interest.
10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising advancing the first detector unit to a position that is at least partially interposed between the first region of interest and the second region of interest.
11. 11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising positioning the second detector unit at a position that is not interposed between the first region of interest and the second region of interest.
12. 12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising maintaining at least one detector in an idle position.
13. 13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the first region of interest or the second region of interest includes a region of greater interest and a region of lesser interest, wherein the greater interest and lesser interest are based on clinical interest for a particular application.
14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising sweeping at least one of the detectors at a lower sweep rate for the region of greater interest than for the region of lesser interest.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the region of lesser interest is interposed between two regions of greater interest for the first detector unit.
16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the region of greater interest is interposed between two regions of lesser interest for the second detector unit.
17. 17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the first region of interest is a first leg of a patient and the second region of interest is a second leg of the patient.
18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the region of greater interest includes a bone and the region of lesser interest includes tissue surrounding the bone.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/370,188, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING MOTION OF DETECTORS HAVING MOVING DETECTOR HEADS,” (the 188 application), filed Mar. 29, 2019, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The 188 application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/140,052, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING MOTION OF DETECTORS HAVING MOVING DETECTOR HEADS,” (the 052 application) filed Dec. 24, 2013, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The 052 application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/040,108, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING MOTION OF DETECTORS HAVING MOVING DETECTOR HEADS,” filed Sep. 27, 2013, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to apparatus and methods for diagnostic medical imaging, such as Nuclear Medicine (NM) imaging. In NM imaging, systems with multiple detectors or detector heads may be used to image a subject, such as to scan a region of interest. For example, the detectors may be positioned adjacent the subject to acquire NM data, which is used to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image of the subject. Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) systems may have moving detector heads, such as gamma detectors positioned to focus on a region of interest. For example, a number of gamma cameras may be moved (e.g., rotated) to different angular positions for acquiring image data. The acquired image data is then used to generate the 3D images. Resolution of gamma detectors is a convolution of the detector resolution (mainly pixel size) and the collimator resolution. Collimator resolution degrades with the distance of the collimator from the subject. In conventional SPECT camera systems with multiple swinging detector heads, the detectors swing about a fixed pivot (usually inside a protective case). As a result of the configuration of these systems, including the detectors and collimators, the gamma cameras often have to be placed at an additional distance from the subject. This increase in distance results in a degrading of resolution. Thus, known systems have degradation in imaging resolution as a result of the limits to which the gamma cameras can move in proximity to the subject because of the configuration of the detector head or collimator used, and/or the types of control of movement of the gamma cameras. Further, known systems may expose patients to levels of radiation that is higher than necessary. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In one embodiment, an imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, a detector unit mounted to the gantry, at least one processing unit, and a controller. The at least one processing unit is configured to obtain object information corresponding to an object to be imaged, and to automatically determine, based on the object information, at least one first portion of the object and at least one second portion of the object. The controller is configured to control a rotational movement of the detector unit. The detector unit is rotatable at a sweep rate from a first position to a second position defining a range of view of the object to be imaged, and the controller is configured to rotate the detector unit from the first position to the second position at an uneven sweep rate. The uneven sweep rate varies during the rotation from the first position to the second position, wherein a larger amount of scanning information is obtained for the at least one first portion than for the at least one second portion. In another embodiment, an imaging system is provided that includes a gantry, a plurality of detector units, at least one processing unit, and a controller. The plurality of detector units are mounted to the gantry, and are individually movable including translational movement and rotational movement. The least one processing unit is configured to obtain object information corresponding to an object to be imaged, and to automatically determine, based on the object information, at least one first portion of the object and at least one second portion of the object. The controller is configured to control the rotational movement of the plurality of detector units. The detector units are individually rotatable from corresponding first positions to second positions defining a range of view of an object to be imaged, and the controller is configured to rotate at least one detector unit from the first position of the detector unit to the second position of the detector unit at an uneven sweep rate. The uneven sweep rate is configured to vary during the rotation from the first position to the second position, wherein a larger amount of scanning information is obtained for the at l