DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SYSTEM COMPRISING A SOURCE OF PENETRATING RADIATION AND ALSO A RADIOPHARMACEUTICAL SOURCE INJECTED INTO THE SUBJECT

摘要

A diagnostic imaging system includes a rotating gantry (16; 216) which defines a subject receiving aperture (18; 218). A rotatable source of high energy penetrating radiation (20; 220) and a corresponding two-dimensional flat panel x-ray detector (26; 226) are disposed across the subject receiving aperture (18; 218). A plurality of nuclear detector heads (40a , 40b; 240a-240c) are movably attached to the rotating gantry (16; 216) in order to detect radiation emitted by a radiopharmaceutical injected into the subject (12; 212). Each of the nuclear detector heads (40a, 40b; 240a-240c) within the system includes a variable radiation shield (42a, 42b) disposed adjacent a radiation receiving face on the detector head. The diagnostic imaging system may be operated in a fluoroscopic/radiographic mode in which an isocentric x-ray beam strikes the center of the detector surface or in a volume imaging mode.