Method and apparatus for improving timing resolution of coincident gamma cameras and pet scanners

摘要

A method and an apparatus for determining coincidence between gamma rays arriving at a plurality of detector locations in a camera is provided. Gamma ray signals are received in each of two detector locations. In response to the received signals, pulse signals are generated and sent to a single field-programmable logic chip. The field-programmable logic chip is used to calculate a time delay related to times at which the pulse signals were received. An output signal related to the calculated time delay is then generated and sent to a time-delay converter. The time-delay converter generates a delay time stamp. A gate signal is sent to a plurality of analog-to-digital converters, which then digitize gamma ray signals being received at the two detector locations. Finally, the time delay stamp is added to each of the digitized gamma ray signals.