Space coding detection unit, detector, method and device and storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides a space coding detection unit, method and device, a detector, electronic equipment and a storage medium. The space coding detection unit comprises a scintillator; at least one part of detection units are embedded in the scintillator according to a preset space coding function, and the detection element is used for detecting high-energy rays, visible light and / or dielectric constants. According to the invention, a signal of a high-energy ray, a scintillation light signal generated by the high-energy ray and a dielectric constant signal triggered by the high-energy ray can be detected at the same time, so that a high-time resolution signal and a high-energy resolution signal can be obtained at the same time; the deposition position of the high-energy ray in the scintillator can be more accurately obtained by adopting a space coding mode, and the final imaging quality is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of high-energy photon detection. Specifically, it relates to a spatial encoding detection unit, a detector, a method, a device, an electronic device, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In experiments such as positron emission tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, oil neutron logging, high-energy physics, and space physics, a large number of high-energy particle detectors are often required to detect particles such as gamma rays, neutrons, protons, and alpha particles.

[0003] High-energy particle detectors can be roughly divided into two categories in principle: one is direct detection that directly converts high-energy particles into electrical signals, represented by perovskite detectors and metal detectors; the other is indirect detection that first converts high-energy particles into low-energy scintillation light and then converts it into an electrical signal for processing through photoelectric converters such as silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Under the principle of direct detection, the charge generated at the high-energy ray deposition position needs to undergo a transport process over an inherent distance before it can be acquired, and the randomness introduced in this process greatly deteriorates the time resolution. In the indirect detection mode, the transport speed of scintillation photons is much faster than that of charge transport. Although the introduced randomness still exists, it is relatively low, and the time resolution is better. It is the mainstream solution in current applications with requirements for time resolution.

[0004] However, existing high-energy ray detectors often have difficulty in obtaining fine position information (especially deposition depth) of gamma-ray deposition inside the scintillator. To solve this problem, there are some technical solutions including spatial encoding optical properties in the prior art. For example, the patent with the publication number CN114910946A proposes to spatially encode the scintillator to achieve position resolution, but these methods require additional materials or means to process the scintillator, and their principles still essentially belong to indirect detection and cannot overcome the problems existing in indirect detection. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application proposes a spatial encoding detection unit, a method, a device, a detector, an electronic device, and a storage medium to solve at least one of the above problems.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present application, a spatial encoding detection unit is proposed. The spatial encoding detection unit includes: a scintillator; a detection element, and at least a part of the detection elements are embedded in the scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function, and the detection elements are used to detect high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constants.

[0007] According to some embodiments, the preset spatial encoding function includes a one-dimensional spatial function, a two-dimensional spatial function, or a three-dimensional spatial function.

[0008] According to some embodiments, the detection element includes a layered encoding element or a mesh encoding element, and both the layered encoding element and the mesh encoding element are arranged according to the preset spatial encoding function.

[0009] According to some embodiments, the detection element is made of superconducting nanowires.

[0010] According to some embodiments, the material of the superconducting nanowires includes at least one of NbTiN, NbN, NbSiN, NbReN, and WSi.

[0011] According to some embodiments, the detection element is formed as a superconducting nanoblock, the superconducting nanoblock is formed by superconducting nanobeams, and the superconducting nanobeams are formed by at least one of the superconducting nanowires.

[0012] According to some embodiments, the mesh encoding element is formed by crossing at least two layers of the layered encoding elements at a preset angle.

[0013] According to some embodiments, the mesh encoding element is formed by crossing two layers of the layered encoding elements at 90°.

[0014] According to some embodiments, the mesh encoding element is formed by crossing three layers of the layered encoding elements at 90° pairwise.

[0015] According to some embodiments, the superconducting nanoblock includes at least one superconducting nanosurface formed by the superconducting nanobeams in a preset bending manner, and the superconducting nanosurfaces belonging to the same superconducting nanoblock are sequentially connected.

[0016] According to some embodiments, the distance between the superconducting nanosurfaces within the same superconducting nanoblock is the same or different.

[0017] According to some embodiments, the distance between the superconducting nanoblocks within the same layered encoding element is the same or different.

[0018] According to some embodiments, the thickness of the superconducting nanoblock is less than 1 mm.

[0019] According to some embodiments, the superconducting nanoblocks are connected to the readout circuits in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0020] According to some embodiments, the scintillator includes an inorganic scintillation crystal, a plastic scintillator, or a Cherenkov scintillator.

[0021] According to one aspect of the present application, a spatial encoding detector is provided, and the spatial encoding detector includes the spatial encoding detection unit as described above.

[0022] According to some embodiments, the spatial encoding detection units are distributed in an array.

[0023] According to some embodiments, the detection elements in different spatial encoding detection units are arranged according to the same or different spatial encoding functions.

[0024] According to some embodiments, a shielding layer is provided between adjacent spatial encoding detection units.

[0025] According to one aspect of the present application, a spatial encoding method is provided, and the spatial encoding method includes: arranging at least a part of the detection elements in a scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function, and the detection elements detect high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constant.

[0026] According to some embodiments, the arranging at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function includes: arranging at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a one-dimensional spatial function, a two-dimensional spatial function, or a three-dimensional spatial function.

[0027] According to some embodiments, the detection elements include a layered encoding element or a mesh encoding element, and both the layered encoding element and the mesh encoding element are arranged according to the preset spatial encoding function.

[0028] According to some embodiments, the detection elements are made of superconducting nanowires.

[0029] According to some embodiments, the material of the superconducting nanowires includes at least one of NbTiN, NbN, NbSiN, NbReN, and WSi.

[0030] According to some embodiments, the detection elements include superconducting nanoblocks, the superconducting nanobundles are formed by at least one superconducting nanowire, and the superconducting nanoblocks are formed by the superconducting nanobundles.

[0031] According to some embodiments, the mesh encoding element is formed by at least two layers of the layered encoding elements crossing at a preset angle.

[0032] According to some embodiments, the mesh encoding element is formed by two layers of the layered encoding elements crossing at 90°.

[0033] According to some embodiments, the mesh encoding element is formed by three layers of the layered encoding elements crossing pairwise at 90°.

[0034] According to some embodiments, a superconducting nanosurface is formed by at least one of the superconducting nanobeams in a preset bending manner, and the superconducting nanoblock is formed by sequentially connecting the superconducting nanosurfaces.

[0035] According to some embodiments, the distances between the superconducting nanosurfaces in the same superconducting nanoblock are set to be the same or different.

[0036] According to some embodiments, the distances between the superconducting nanoblocks in the same layered coding element are set to be the same or different.

[0037] According to some embodiments, the thickness of the superconducting nanoblock is less than 1 mm.

[0038] According to some embodiments, the superconducting nanoblocks are connected to the readout circuits in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0039] According to some embodiments, the scintillator includes an inorganic scintillation crystal, a plastic scintillator, or a Cherenkov scintillator.

[0040] According to one aspect of the present application, a spatial coding device is provided. The spatial coding device includes: a coding unit configured to embed at least some of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a preset spatial coding function, and the signal intensity includes the signal intensity corresponding to high-energy rays, visible light, and / or the dielectric constant.

[0041] According to one aspect of the present application, a spatial decoding method is provided for the spatial coding detector as described above. The spatial decoding method includes: obtaining the signal intensity generated by the detection elements, where the signal intensity includes the signal intensity corresponding to high-energy rays, visible light, and / or the dielectric constant; determining the deposition position of the high-energy rays in the scintillator according to the preset spatial coding function and the signal intensity.

[0042] According to some embodiments, determining the deposition position of the high-energy rays according to the preset spatial coding function and the signal intensity includes: obtaining the position information of all the superconducting nanoblocks in the detection elements in the scintillator according to the preset spatial coding function; jointly determining the deposition position of the high-energy rays according to all the position information and the signal intensity information.

[0043] According to some embodiments, jointly determining the deposition position of the high-energy rays according to all the position information and the signal intensity information includes: determining the position of the superconducting nanoblock with the maximum signal intensity as the deposition position.

[0044] According to some embodiments, the joint determination of the deposition position of the high-energy ray based on all the position information and the signal strength information includes: using the signal strengths of all the superconducting nanoblocks as weights to weight the position information of all the superconducting nanoblocks to obtain the deposition position.

[0045] According to some embodiments, the signal strength includes the energy, peak value, arrival time, voltage, and current value of the signal.

[0046] According to one aspect of the present application, a spatial encoding detection device is provided, and the spatial encoding detection device includes the above-mentioned spatial encoding detector.

[0047] According to some embodiments, the spatial encoding detection device further includes a detection ring, the spatial encoding detector is disposed within the detection ring, and the operating temperature of the detection ring is less than 10K.

[0048] According to one aspect of the present application, an electronic device is provided, and the electronic device includes: one or more processors; a storage device for storing one or more programs; when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the spatial encoding method or the spatial decoding method as described above.

[0049] According to one aspect of the present application, a storage medium is provided, on which computer program instructions are stored, and when the computer program instructions are executed by a processor, the processor implements the spatial encoding method or the spatial decoding method as described above.

[0050] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present application, compared with the existing traditional method of coupling optoelectronic devices at one or both ends of a scintillator, the space-coded detection unit provided by the present application has at least the following advantages: First, when performing imaging detection, high-energy rays enter the scintillator. Since the detection elements are directly embedded in the scintillator and can directly detect some high-energy rays, the transmission process of the optical signal in the scintillator is omitted, avoiding signal loss and distortion during this process, and reducing the deterioration of the time resolution caused by the transport process in the scintillator, thus a higher time resolution can be obtained; Second, the high-energy rays can be converted into visible light by the scintillator and then detected by the detection elements embedded in the scintillator. This step greatly reduces the transmission process of the visible light signal in the scintillator, and finally more accurate energy information can be obtained through signal processing by the readout circuit and the host computer, etc.; Third, when high-energy particles interact with the scintillator in terms of electrical principles, not only visible light such as scintillation light and Cherenkov light will be generated, but also local changes in the dielectric constant of the scintillator will be induced. Since the detection elements can obtain the dielectric constant, the time resolution can be further improved; Fourth, since the detection elements are embedded in the scintillator in a manner that satisfies a preset space-coding function, the deposition position of the high-energy rays in the scintillator can be accurately located through the space-coding function of the detection elements. The coincidence degree between the response line constructed based on this deposition position and the actual response line is higher, so that the deposition position information of the high-energy rays can be obtained more accurately. That is to say, the space-coded detection unit provided by the present application can simultaneously detect the signal of the high-energy rays themselves, the scintillation light signal generated by the high-energy rays, and the dielectric constant signal induced by the high-energy rays, realizing the simultaneous acquisition of high-time-resolution signals and high-energy-resolution signals. Further, the deposition position of the high-energy rays in the scintillator can be obtained more accurately by using the space-coding method, improving the final imaging quality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] The present application will be further described by way of exemplary embodiments, and these exemplary embodiments will be described in detail through the drawings. These embodiments are not restrictive. In these embodiments, the same reference numerals represent the same structures, where:

[0052] Figure 1 FIG. shows a schematic structural diagram of a space-coded detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 2 FIG. shows a three-dimensional structural diagram of a space-coded detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 3 FIG. shows a schematic structural diagram of a space-coded detection unit and a readout circuit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 4Schematic diagram showing the spatial encoding of a single superconducting nanosheet in a spatial encoding detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Figure 5 Schematic diagram showing the spatial encoding of a single superconducting nanoblock in a spatial encoding detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 6 Schematic diagram showing the spatial encoding of a single superconducting nanoblock in another spatial encoding detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 7 Schematic diagram showing the spatial encoding of a single superconducting nanoblock in another spatial encoding detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 8 Schematic diagram showing the structure of a spatial encoding detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 9 Flowchart showing a spatial encoding method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figure 10 Flowchart showing another spatial encoding method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 11 Flowchart showing a spatial decoding method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0063] Figure 12 Flowchart showing another spatial decoding method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Figure 13 Schematic diagram showing an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0065] To make the above objects, features, and advantages of the present application more apparent and understandable, the following describes the detailed implementation manners of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings. Many specific details are set forth in the following description to fully understand the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without departing from the connotation of the present application. Therefore, the present application is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0066] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there can also be an intermediate element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intermediate element at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "left", "right" and similar expressions used herein are only for illustrative purposes. The described features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. In the following description, many specific details are provided to give a full understanding of the embodiments of the present application. However, those skilled in the art will realize that the technical solutions of the present application can be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or other means, components, materials, devices or operations, etc. can be adopted. In these cases, well-known structures, methods, devices, implementations, materials or operations will not be shown or described in detail.

[0067] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only illustrative and do not necessarily include all the contents and operations / steps, nor do they necessarily have to be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps can be decomposed, while some operations / steps can be combined or partially combined, so the actual execution order may change according to the actual situation.

[0068] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification, claims and above-mentioned drawings of the present application are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally further includes steps or units not listed, or optionally further includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices. The term "and / or" or "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed items.

[0069] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the technical field to which this application belongs. The terms used in the specification of this application herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application.

[0070] The following will refer to the accompanying drawings to detail the specific embodiments according to the present application.

[0071] Figure 1The structural schematic diagram of a spatial encoding detection unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The spatial encoding detection unit includes a scintillator 10 and a detection element 20. At least a part of the detection elements 20 are embedded in the scintillator 10 according to a preset spatial encoding function. The detection element 20 is used to detect high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constant. In one way, the spatial encoding can be exemplarily understood as arranging the detection elements 20 according to a preset one-dimensional, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional spatial pattern to obtain additional prior knowledge to achieve spatial resolution within the scintillator 10. The spatial encoding function is the function that realizes the above process. As Figure 1 shown, the detection elements 20 are arranged in the scintillator 10 according to a preset spatial encoding function to achieve spatial encoding of the scintillator 10. Among them, the high-energy rays include x-rays, neutrons, protons, alpha particles, gamma rays, etc.

[0072] Regarding the embedding method of the detection element 20 in the scintillator 10, in one case, the embedding can be exemplarily understood as wrapping the detection element 20 during the growth or processing of the scintillator 10, and the scintillator 10 and the detection element 20 are grown or processed into an integral body. At least a part of the detection unit 20 being embedded in the scintillator 10 according to a preset spatial encoding function can be exemplarily understood as wrapping at least part of the detection elements 20 during the growth or processing of the scintillator 10; in another case, the scintillator 10 has a relatively thin thickness. For example, when the size of the scintillator 10 in the thickness direction is smaller than the sizes in the other two directions, it can be considered that the scintillator 10 has a relatively thin thickness. The detection elements 20 can be arranged between adjacent scintillators 10, staggered with each other, and the arrangement method of the detection elements 20 in the scintillator 10 is carried out according to a preset spatial encoding function. The array formed by the scintillator 10 and the detection elements 20 constitutes a detection unit. This situation is also a feasible way for the scintillator 10 to embed the detection element 20. The above two methods are very different from the existing structural methods of coupling the scintillator with optoelectronic devices. The structural form of the spatial encoding detection unit of the present application can accurately obtain the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator 10, which cannot be achieved by the existing detection units.

[0073] In addition, in the present application, the wrapping area of the detection device 20 can be selected according to needs. In some examples, the wrapping area is related to the spatial resolution ability.

[0074] Among them, the scintillator 10 includes an inorganic scintillation crystal, a plastic scintillator, or a Cherenkov scintillator. The inorganic scintillation crystal includes LYSO, YSO, LSO, BGO, or NaI, etc. The shape of the scintillator 10 can be a cuboid, a cube, or a triangular prism, a pentagonal prism, a hexagonal prism, a cylinder, a sphere, an ellipsoid, an irregular body, etc.

[0075] Compared with the existing traditional method of coupling optoelectronic devices at one or both ends of the scintillator 10, the space-coded detection unit provided by the present application has at least the following advantages: First, during imaging detection, when high-energy rays enter the scintillator 10, since the detection element 20 is directly embedded in the scintillator 10 and can directly detect some high-energy rays, the transmission process of visible light signals in the scintillator 10 is omitted, avoiding signal loss and distortion during this process, and reducing the deterioration of time resolution caused by the transport process in the scintillator 10, so that a higher time resolution can be obtained; Second, the high-energy rays can be converted into visible light by the scintillator 10 and then detected by the detection element 20 embedded in the scintillator 10. This step greatly reduces the transmission process of visible light signals in the scintillator 10, and finally more accurate energy information can be obtained through the processing of signals by the readout circuit and the host computer, etc.; Third, when high-energy particles interact with the scintillator 10 in terms of electrical principles, not only visible light such as scintillation light and Cherenkov light will be generated, but also local dielectric constant changes of the scintillator 10 will be induced. Since the detection element 20 can obtain the dielectric constant, the time resolution can be further improved; Fourth, since the detection element 20 is embedded in the scintillator 10 in a manner that satisfies the preset space-coded function, the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator 10 can be accurately located through the space-coded function of the detection element 20, and the coincidence degree between the response line constructed based on this deposition position and the actual response line is higher, so that the deposition position information of high-energy rays can be obtained more accurately. That is to say, the space-coded detection unit provided by the present application can simultaneously detect the signals of high-energy rays themselves, the scintillation light signals generated by high-energy rays, and the dielectric constant signals induced by high-energy rays, realizing the simultaneous acquisition of high-time-resolution signals and high-energy-resolution signals. Further, the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator 10 can be obtained more accurately by using the space-coded method, improving the final imaging quality.

[0076] The high-energy ray signal, the scintillation light signal, and the dielectric constant change signal are all pulse signals, and the difference lies in the pulse width / decay time and the waveform. The pulse width / decay time and the waveform are calculated in the host computer from the digitized readout signal, and the three signals are distinguished by classification methods. For the three signals, the arrival time of the scintillation light is obtained by means of leading edge discrimination (LED for short), constant-fraction discriminator (CFD for short), etc.; the energy of the high-energy rays is obtained by numerical integration methods or function fitting integration, for example, the fitting models include linear-exponential, double-exponential, etc.

[0077] It should be particularly noted that when the scintillator 10 is a Cherenkov scintillator, since the light pulse generated by the Cherenkov scintillator has a shorter pulse width and a faster rising edge than the light pulse generated by the inorganic scintillation crystal, the time resolution is better.

[0078] As Figure 2 shown, assume that the spatial encoding detection unit is a cuboid structure, where the direction shown by the x-axis is the thickness direction of the scintillator 10, the direction shown by the y-axis is the tangential direction of the scintillator 10, the direction shown by the z-axis is the depth direction of the scintillator 10, and the top is the light-receiving surface 11 of the scintillator 10. When Figure 1 the spatial encoding detection unit shown is also a cuboid structure, it means that the surface of the detection unit parallel to the xz plane shown by Figure 2 shown. It should be particularly noted that, generally, the scintillator 10 is transparent, so Figure 1 the structure shown can be a perspective structure or a cross-sectional structure, which does not affect the understanding of the Figure 1 structure solution shown.

[0079] In a specific example, assume that the scintillator 10 is a Figure 2 cuboid structure shown, with a depth of A cm, where A is, for example, 20. A detection element 20 is placed every B cm in the depth direction of the scintillator 10 according to a preset spatial encoding function, where B is, for example, 5. The detection elements 20 are encoded as 1, 2, 3... k, and the depths are 1B cm, 2B cm, 3B cm... kB cm, where kB is less than A. Exemplarily, when high-energy rays enter the scintillator 10, the high-energy rays will scatter to form several scintillation lights, and any one of the scintillation lights may be captured by the detection element 20. The first captured scintillation light represents the arrival time of the high-energy rays, and the sum of the energies of all the scintillation lights can represent the energy of the high-energy rays. According to a predetermined decoding rule, for example, when the signal intensity of the i-th detection element 20 is the largest, the position of this detection element 20 is taken as the deposition position of the high-energy rays in the scintillator 10, and its deposition depth is iB cm.

[0080] According to some embodiments of the present application, the pulse signal output by the detection element 20 is sampled by using a multi-voltage threshold (MVT) sampling method or by tools such as an oscilloscope and an analog-to-digital converter to obtain information about high-energy rays, such as energy information and time information.

[0081] Those skilled in the art should note that in the Figure 1 embodiment, the more densely the detection elements 20 are arranged, the more beneficial it is to improve the performance of the detection unit, but at the same time, the process cost and difficulty are increased.

[0082] Specifically, by way of example only, the preset spatial encoding function includes a one-dimensional spatial function, a two-dimensional spatial function, or a three-dimensional spatial function.

[0083] Preferably, in an example of the present application, the detection element 20 is made of superconducting nanowires. A superconducting nanowire (abbreviated as SN) refers to a wire-shaped superconductor with a nanoscale cross-section, which may be made of a metal or a compound containing a metal element, and exhibits superconductivity (resistivity is 0), superconducting diamagnetism, etc. at low temperatures. The material of the superconducting nanowires used in the present application includes at least one of niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN), niobium nitride (NbN), niobium silicon nitride (NbSiN), niobium rhenium nitride (NbReN), and tungsten silicon (WSi).

[0084] The photoelectric converters used in existing detection units or detectors usually use electronic circuits with resistance. Due to the existence of resistance, the electrical signals attenuate and distort in them, which will cause deterioration of time resolution and energy resolution. The present application uses SN with zero resistance at low temperatures, aiming to eliminate the deterioration of time resolution and energy resolution caused by the change of electrical signals as much as possible.

[0085] Exemplarily, one or more superconducting nanowires (SN wires) are parallel or twisted into a superconducting nanobundle 21 (SN bundle 21), and one SN bundle 21 is bent in a preset bending manner to form a superconducting nanosheet 22 (SN sheet 22), and at least one SN sheet 22 forms an SN block, and the SN sheets 22 belonging to the same SN block are sequentially connected. As Figure 3 shown, each SN block is separately connected to a readout circuit 30, that is, the SN blocks are connected to the readout circuit 30 in a one-to-one correspondence. At least two SN blocks arranged according to a preset spatial encoding function form a layered encoding element or a networked encoding element. By sequentially connecting the SN sheets 22 belonging to the same SN block, signal transmission without obstacles within a single SN block can be achieved.

[0086] Exemplarily, the detection elements 20 within the same scintillator 10 may include multiple SN blocks.

[0087] Exemplarily, the SN sheet 22 is generally a plane, and may also be a spherical surface, an ellipsoidal surface, an irregular plane, etc. Those skilled in the art should note that the "plane" in the present application refers to the plane where the main body after bending of the SN bundle is approximately a plane. Actually, in physical space, this plane is limited, and there may be gaps between adjacent bundles after the SN bundle is bent, as long as the main body after bending is approximately a plane.

[0088] Exemplarily, the preset bending manner is, for example, a meandering arrangement manner. As Figure 4As shown, in a specific example, the SN bundle 21 is bent by 90 degrees every a microns in the same plane, then bent by 90 degrees again after b microns, and then bent by 90 degrees again after a microns... This cycle repeats n times, forming the SN surface 22. The distance between each bent segment in the SN bundle 21 can be the same or different.

[0089] Among them, a is any value from 100 to 1000, b is any value from 5 to 50, and n is any value from 5 to 50. Due to space limitations, they are not exhaustively listed here.

[0090] Those skilled in the art can understand that the preset bending method is not limited to the above-described method, and can also be other methods that those skilled in the art can obtain without creative labor, and these methods all fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0091] There can also be various forms of the way the SN surface 22 forms the SN block. In Figure 5 the shown embodiment, the way the SN surface 22 forms the SN block is as follows: m layers of SN surfaces 22 are stacked in parallel to form the SN block, and the distance between two adjacent layers is c microns. The SN surfaces 22 belonging to the same SN block are sequentially connected. Among them, m is any value from 1 to 10, and c is any value from 10 to 100 microns. Those skilled in the art can understand that in the above method, the SN surfaces 22 may not be parallel, and the distance between the SN surfaces 22 constituting the same SN block can be the same or different.

[0092] Those skilled in the art can also understand that the way the SN surface 22 forms the SN block is not limited to the above method. In the embodiment as shown in Figure 6 a large-area SN surface 22 forms the SN block by folding 180° multiple times in the vertical reference direction. It can be understood that the above bending angle can be selected as needed.

[0093] In the embodiment as shown in Figure 7 the SN surface 22 forms an SN block in the shape of a cuboid / cube by multiple 90° folds. It can be understood that the above bending angle can also be selected as needed.

[0094] Among them, the thickness of the SN block is less than 1 mm. Those skilled in the art can understand that the thickness of the SN block can be any value less than 1 mm. Exemplarily, the thickness of the SN block refers to the total thickness after the SN layers are stacked. For example, Figure 5 the dimension in the vertical direction can represent the thickness of the SN block.

[0095] Exemplarily, as shown in Figure 1In the illustrated embodiment, in the scintillator 10, k SN blocks are arranged in parallel and in a layered manner to form a layered coding element (encoded using a one-dimensional spatial coding function), with a separation distance of d millimeters. Here, k can be any value from 1 to 20. It can be understood that the size of k is related to the depth of the scintillator 10 (where the depth direction here is the same as Figure 2 the depth direction shown). d can be any value from 1 to 10. Of course, it can be understood that the distances between the SN blocks that make up the same layered coding element can be the same or different. Similarly, the SN blocks that make up the same layered coding element can be parallel or non-parallel.

[0096] In the scintillator 10, in addition to the layered coding method, the detection element 20 can also be a mesh coding method (encoded using a two-dimensional or three-dimensional spatial coding function).

[0097] Specifically, the mesh coding element is formed by at least two layered coding elements intersecting at a preset angle. In the Figure 8 illustrated embodiment, the mesh coding element is formed by two layered coding elements intersecting at 90°. That is, on the basis of one layered coding element, another layered coding element is added in its vertical direction. For example, one layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 depth direction shown, and another layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 thickness direction shown. The relationship between the SN blocks within one layered coding element can be the same as that of the layered coding element encoded using the one-dimensional spatial coding function above. The distance between the SN blocks in the other layered coding element is e millimeters, and the number of layers is i. Here, e can be any value from 1 to 10, and i can be any value from 1 to 20. It can be understood that the size of i is related to the thickness of the scintillator 10. Of course, the intervals between the SN blocks in the two layered coding elements can be the same or different, and the number of SN blocks included can also be the same or different. The SN blocks in each layer can be parallel or non-parallel.

[0098] Specifically, the mesh coding element can also be formed by three layered coding elements intersecting pairwise at 90°. That is, on the basis of two layered coding elements, another layered coding element is added in the direction perpendicular to both of them (the tangential direction of the scintillator 10). For example, the first layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 depth direction shown, the second layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 thickness direction shown, and the third layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2They are arranged in the indicated tangent direction. It can be understood that when the detection element 20 is embedded in the scintillator 10 in a layered coding manner, spatial resolution in the depth direction of the scintillator 10 can be achieved. When the detection element 20 is embedded in the scintillator 10 in a two-layer layered coding manner (mesh coding), spatial resolution in both the depth direction and the thickness direction of the scintillator 10 can be achieved. When the detection element 20 is embedded in the scintillator 10 in a three-layer layered coding manner (mesh coding), spatial resolution in three directions, namely the depth direction, the thickness direction, and the tangent direction of the scintillator 10, can be achieved.

[0099] Among them, the distances between SN blocks within the same layered coding element can be the same or different. It should be particularly noted that arranging the SN blocks within the same layered coding element with the same distance interval is beneficial for the production and manufacturing of the detection unit and can also simplify the calculations in the subsequent graphic process. However, it is less flexible than arranging the SN blocks within the same layered coding element with different distance intervals. When arranging the SN blocks within the same layered coding element with different distance intervals, specific arrangement methods can be selected based on prior experience. For example, according to the roles played by each detection unit at different positions in the detection device during the detection process, or the roles played by each point position in each detection unit during the detection process, specific arrangement methods can be set to achieve a reasonable arrangement of the SN blocks and further improve the imaging accuracy.

[0100] In addition, it should be particularly noted that the smaller the distance between SN blocks within the same layered coding element, the higher the imaging accuracy, but at the same time, the manufacturing cost of the detection unit also increases accordingly.

[0101] It should be particularly noted that when spatially coding the SN blocks in the scintillator 10 using two-dimensional or three-dimensional spatial coding functions, the angle between two-layer layered coding elements is preferably 90°. At this time, the performance of each position of the scintillator 10 is relatively uniform, the decoding difficulty is low, and the manufacturing difficulty is also small. Of course, it can be understood that the angle between two-layer layered coding elements can be any value between 0 and 90°.

[0102] Furthermore, in the spatial coding detection unit provided in this application, only layered coding elements arranged using one-dimensional spatial functions can be provided in the scintillator 10, or mesh coding elements (including two-layer layered coding elements) arranged in a crossed or non-crossed manner using two-dimensional spatial functions can be provided, or mesh coding elements (including three-layer layered coding elements) arranged in a crossed or non-crossed manner using three-dimensional spatial functions can be provided.

[0103] Furthermore, in the spatial encoding detection unit provided by the present application, two or more sets of layered encoding elements arranged using the same or different one-dimensional spatial functions can be provided in the scintillator 10. Two or more sets of mesh encoding elements (including two or more sets of two-layered encoding elements) arranged in a cross or non-cross manner using the same or different two-dimensional spatial functions can also be provided. Additionally, two or more sets of mesh encoding elements (including two or more sets of three-layered encoding elements) arranged in a cross or non-cross manner using the same or different three-dimensional spatial functions can be provided.

[0104] Those skilled in the art can understand that the sizes, shapes, structures, and materials of different SN blocks embedded in the same scintillator 10 can be the same or different.

[0105] Corresponding to the above spatial encoding detection unit, the present application further provides a spatial encoding detector, which includes at least one spatial encoding detection unit provided in any of the above examples. The spatial encoding detection units are arranged in an array to form the spatial encoding detector, and the detection elements in different spatial encoding detection units are set according to the same or different spatial encoding functions.

[0106] It can be understood that a shielding layer can be provided between adjacent spatial encoding detection units. The material of the shielding layer can be selected as needed, and any shielding layer that can achieve visible light signal shielding can be applied to the present application. Of course, it can also be understood that in addition to providing a shielding layer between adjacent spatial encoding detection units, a shielding layer can also be provided on the outer surface of a single spatial encoding detection unit. That is to say, the specific setting method of the shielding layer can be adjusted according to needs, as long as visible light signal shielding can be achieved, and it is not limited to the above two methods.

[0107] The spatial encoding detector provided by the present application can be applied to scenarios such as positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, oil neutron logging, high-energy physics, and space physics detection.

[0108] Compared with the existing traditional method of coupling optoelectronic devices at one or both ends of a scintillator, the space-coded detector provided in this application has at least the following advantages: First, during imaging detection, when high-energy rays enter the scintillator, since the detection elements are directly embedded in the scintillator and can directly detect some high-energy rays, the transmission process of visible light signals in the scintillator is eliminated, avoiding signal loss and distortion during this process, and reducing the deterioration of time resolution caused by the transport process in the scintillator, thus enabling a higher time resolution to be obtained; Second, the high-energy rays can be converted into visible light by the scintillator and then detected by the detection elements embedded in the scintillator. This step greatly reduces the transmission process of visible light signals in the scintillator, and finally, more accurate energy information can be obtained through signal processing by the readout circuit and the host computer, etc.; Third, when high-energy particles interact with the scintillator in terms of electrical principles, not only visible light such as scintillation light and Cherenkov light will be generated, but also changes in the local dielectric constant of the scintillator will be induced. Since the detection elements can obtain the dielectric constant, the time resolution can be further improved; Fourth, since the detection elements are embedded in the scintillator in a manner that satisfies a preset space-coding function, the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator can be accurately located through the space-coding function of the detection elements. The coincidence degree between the response line constructed based on this deposition position and the actual response line is higher, so that the deposition position information of high-energy rays can be obtained more accurately. That is to say, the space-coded detector provided in this application can simultaneously detect the signals of high-energy rays themselves, the scintillation light signals generated by high-energy rays, and the dielectric constant signals induced by high-energy rays, realizing the simultaneous acquisition of high-time-resolution signals and high-energy-resolution signals. Further, the use of the space-coding method can more accurately obtain the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator, improving the final imaging quality.

[0109] Corresponding to the above space-coded detector, this application also provides a space-coded detection device, which generally includes the space-coded detector provided in any one of the above examples, and may also include a readout circuit. The readout circuit is connected to the detection elements. Preferably, the readout circuit is connected to the detection elements in a one-to-one correspondence to more accurately locate the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator.

[0110] Specifically, in an example of the present application, the spatial encoding detection device further includes a detection ring, and the spatial encoding detector is disposed within the detection ring. Taking a PET device as an example, 48 spatial encoding detectors are disposed within the detection ring, and the operating temperature of the detection ring is less than 10K, where K represents the thermodynamic temperature scale or the absolute temperature scale, and 0K = -273.15°C. Among them, the detection ring as a whole is a heat-insulating cavity, and data is transmitted out of the detection ring through a bus and input into a computer for processing. Each detector is also arranged in a ring shape, and detection elements such as SN blocks are embedded in the scintillator. The present application is implemented based on superconducting electronics at extremely low temperatures (less than 10K), and the electronic noise is reduced to a minimum, and the time resolution is better than that of any room-temperature device.

[0111] In addition, compared with the detector that conventionally uses an optoelectronic device coupled to one end of the scintillator, the spatial encoding detection device provided in the present application can simultaneously detect the signal of the high-energy ray itself, the scintillation light signal generated by the high-energy ray, and the dielectric constant signal induced by the high-energy ray, so as to simultaneously obtain high-time-resolution signals and high-energy-resolution signals. Further, the spatial encoding method can more accurately obtain the deposition position of the high-energy ray in the scintillator, thereby improving the final imaging quality.

[0112] Corresponding to the above-mentioned spatial encoding detection unit, the present application also provides a spatial encoding method. As Figure 9 shown, the spatial encoding method provided in the present application generally includes the following steps:

[0113] S10: Embed at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function, and the detection elements detect high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constants.

[0114] Among them, embedding can be exemplarily understood as a way of wrapping the detection elements therein during the growth or processing of the scintillator. Spatial encoding can be exemplarily understood as a way of arranging the detection elements according to a preset one-dimensional, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional spatial pattern to obtain additional prior knowledge to achieve spatial resolution within the scintillator. The spatial encoding function is the function that realizes the above process; high-energy rays include x-rays, neutrons, protons, alpha particles, gamma rays, etc.

[0115] Among them, the scintillator includes inorganic scintillation crystals, plastic scintillators, or Cherenkov scintillators. The inorganic scintillation crystals include LYSO, YSO, LSO, BGO, or NaI, etc. The scintillator can be a cuboid, a cube, or a triangular prism, a pentagonal prism, a hexagonal prism, a cylinder, a sphere, an ellipsoid, an irregular body, etc.

[0116] Regarding the embedding method of the detection element in the scintillator, in one case, the embedding can be exemplarily understood as wrapping the detection element during the growth or processing of the scintillator, and the scintillator and the detection element are grown or processed into an integral body. That at least a part of the detection units are embedded in the scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function can be exemplarily understood as wrapping at least a part of the detection elements during the growth or processing of the scintillator; in another case, the scintillator has a relatively thin thickness, and the detection elements can be arranged between adjacent scintillators in a staggered manner, and the arrangement of the detection elements in the scintillator is carried out according to a preset spatial encoding function. The array formed by the scintillator and the detection elements constitutes a detection unit. This case is also a feasible way for the scintillator to embed the detection element. The above two methods are very different from the existing structural methods of coupling the scintillator with optoelectronic devices. The structural form of the spatial encoding detection unit of the present application can accurately obtain the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator, which cannot be achieved by the existing detection units.

[0117] In addition, in the present application, the wrapping area of the detection element can be selected as needed. In some examples, the wrapping area is related to the spatial resolution ability.

[0118] Compared with the existing traditional method of coupling optoelectronic devices at one or both ends of a scintillator, the spatial encoding method provided in this application, which buries detection elements in the scintillator in a manner that satisfies a preset spatial encoding function, has at least the following advantages: First, during imaging detection, when high-energy rays enter the scintillator, since the detection elements are directly buried in the scintillator and can directly detect some high-energy rays, the transmission process of visible light signals in the scintillator is eliminated, avoiding signal loss and distortion during this process and reducing the deterioration of time resolution caused by the transport process in the scintillator, thereby obtaining a higher time resolution. Second, the high-energy rays are converted into visible light by the scintillator and then detected by the detection elements buried in the scintillator. This step greatly reduces the transmission process of visible light signals in the scintillator, and finally, more accurate energy information can be obtained through signal processing by the readout circuit and the host computer, etc. Third, since the detection elements can obtain the dielectric constant, the time resolution can be further improved. Fourth, since the detection elements are buried in the scintillator in a manner that satisfies the preset spatial encoding function, the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator can be accurately located through the spatial encoding function of the detection elements, and the coincidence degree between the response line constructed based on this deposition position and the actual response line is higher, so that the deposition position information of high-energy rays can be obtained more accurately. That is to say, the spatial encoding method provided in this application can simultaneously detect the signals of high-energy rays themselves, the scintillation light signals generated by high-energy rays, and the dielectric constant signals induced by high-energy rays, realizing the simultaneous acquisition of high-time-resolution signals and high-energy-resolution signals. Further, the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator can be obtained more accurately by using the spatial encoding method, improving the final imaging quality.

[0119] It should be particularly noted that when the scintillator is a Cherenkov scintillator, since the light pulses generated by the Cherenkov scintillator have a shorter pulse width and a faster rising edge than those generated by inorganic scintillation crystals, the time resolution is better.

[0120] Specifically, by way of example only, the preset spatial encoding function includes a one-dimensional spatial function, a two-dimensional spatial function, or a three-dimensional spatial function. As Figure 10 shown, the above step S10 includes:

[0121] S11: Bury at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to the one-dimensional spatial function, the two-dimensional spatial function, or the three-dimensional spatial function.

[0122] As Figure 2 shown, assuming that the spatial encoding detection unit is in a cuboid structure, where the direction shown by the x-axis is the thickness direction of the scintillator 10, the direction shown by the y-axis is the tangential direction of the scintillator 10, the direction shown by the z-axis is the depth direction of the scintillator 10, and the top is the light-receiving surface 11 of the scintillator 10. When Figure 1When the spatial encoding detection unit shown is also a cuboid structure, it means that the surface of the detection element parallel to the Figure 2 plane where xz is shown. It should be noted that, generally, the scintillator 10 is transparent, so Figure 1 the structure shown can be a perspective structure or a cross-section, which does not affect the understanding of Figure 1 the structural solution shown.

[0123] More specifically, in an example of the present application, assume that the scintillator is Figure 2 the cuboid structure shown, its depth is A cm, A is, for example, 20. According to the preset spatial encoding function, a detection element is placed every B cm in the depth direction of the scintillator, B is, for example, 5. The detection elements are encoded as 1, 2, 3... k, and the depths are 1B cm, 2B cm, 3B cm... kB cm, where kB is less than A. Exemplarily, when high-energy rays enter the scintillator, the high-energy rays will scatter to form several scintillation lights, and any one of the scintillation lights may be captured by the detection element. The first captured scintillation light represents the arrival time of the high-energy rays, and the sum of the energies of all scintillation lights can represent the energy of the high-energy rays. According to the predetermined decoding rule, for example, when the signal intensity of the i-th detection element is the largest, the position of this detection element is taken as the deposition position of the high-energy rays in the scintillator, and its deposition depth is iB cm.

[0124] The high-energy ray signal, the scintillation light signal, and the dielectric constant change signal are all pulse signals. The difference lies in the pulse width / decay time and the waveform. The pulse width / decay time and the waveform are calculated in the host computer through the digitized readout signal, and the three signals are distinguished by classification methods. For the three signals, the arrival time of the scintillation light is obtained by means such as Leading Edge Discrimination (LED) and Constant-Fraction Discriminator (CFD); the energy of the high-energy rays is obtained by numerical integration methods or function fitting integration, for example, the fitting models include line-exponential, double-exponential and other methods.

[0125] According to some embodiments of the present application, the Multi Voltage Threshold (MVT) sampling method, or tools such as an oscilloscope or an analog-to-digital converter are used to sample the pulse signal output by the detection element to obtain information about high-energy rays, for example, the energy information and time information of the rays.

[0126] Those skilled in the art need to note that the denser the arrangement of the detection elements, the more beneficial it is to improve the performance of the detection unit, but at the same time, it also increases the process cost and difficulty.

[0127] Preferably, in an example of the present application, the detection element is made of superconducting nanowires. A superconducting nanowire (abbreviated as SN) refers to a wire-shaped superconductor with a cross-section on the nanoscale, which may be made of a metal or a compound containing a metal element, and exhibits superconductivity (resistivity is 0), superconducting diamagnetism, etc. at low temperatures (less than 10K). The material of the superconducting nanowire used in the present application includes at least one of niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN), niobium nitride (NbN), niobium silicon nitride (NbSiN), niobium rhenium nitride (NbReN), and tungsten silicon (WSi).

[0128] The photoelectric converters used in existing detection units or detectors usually use electronic circuits with resistance. Due to the existence of resistance, electrical signals are attenuated and distorted therein, which will cause deterioration of time resolution and energy resolution. The present application uses SN with zero resistance at low temperatures, aiming to eliminate the deterioration of time resolution and energy resolution caused by changes in electrical signals as much as possible.

[0129] Exemplarily, one or more superconducting nanowires (SN wires) are parallel or twisted into a superconducting nanobundle 21 (SN bundle 21), and one SN bundle 21 is bent in a preset bending manner to form a superconducting nanosheet 22 (SN sheet 22), and at least one SN sheet 22 forms an SN block, and the SN sheets 22 belonging to the same SN block are sequentially connected. As Figure 3 shown, each SN block is separately connected to a readout circuit 30, that is, the SN blocks are connected to the readout circuit 30 in a one-to-one correspondence. At least two SN blocks arranged according to a preset spatial coding function form a layered coding element or a networked coding element. By sequentially connecting the SN sheets 22 belonging to the same SN block, signal transmission without obstacles within a single SN block can be achieved.

[0130] Exemplarily, the detection elements 20 within the same scintillator 10 may include multiple SN blocks.

[0131] Exemplarily, the SN sheet 22 is generally a plane, and may also be a spherical surface, an ellipsoidal surface, an irregular plane, etc. Those skilled in the art should note that the "plane" in the present application refers to the plane where the main body after bending of the SN bundle is approximately a plane. Actually, in physical space, this plane is limited, and there may be gaps between adjacent bundles after the SN bundle is bent, as long as the main body after bending is approximately a plane.

[0132] Exemplarily, the preset bending manner is, for example, a meandering arrangement manner. As Figure 4As shown, in a specific example, the SN bundle 21 is bent by 90 degrees in the same plane every a microns, then bent by 90 degrees again after b microns, and then bent by 90 degrees again after a microns... This cycle repeats for n times, forming the SN plane 22. The distance between each bent segment in the SN bundle 21 can be the same or different.

[0133] Among them, a is any value in the range of 100 to 1000, b is any value in the range of 5 to 50, and n is any value in the range of 5 to 50. Due to space limitations, they are not enumerated here.

[0134] Those skilled in the art can understand that the preset bending method is not limited to the above-described method, and can also be other methods that those skilled in the art can obtain without creative labor, and these methods all fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0135] Exemplarily, in Figure 5 the shown embodiment, the SN plane 22 forms the SN block in the following way: m layers of SN planes 22 are stacked parallel to form the SN block, and the distance between two adjacent layers is c microns. The SN planes 22 belonging to the same SN block are sequentially connected. Among them, m is any value in the range of 1 to 10, and c is any value in the range of 10 to 100 microns. Those skilled in the art can understand that in the above method, the SN planes 22 may not be parallel, and the distances between the SN planes 22 constituting the same SN block can be the same or different.

[0136] Those skilled in the art can also understand that the method for the SN plane 22 to form the SN block is not limited to the above method. For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 6 it can also be that the large-area SN plane 22 forms the SN block by folding 180° multiple times in the direction perpendicular to the SN plane 22. It can be understood that the above bending angle can be selected according to needs. Again, in the embodiment shown in Figure 7 it can also be that the SN plane 22 forms a cuboid / cube, etc. by folding multiple 90°. It can be understood that the above bending angle can also be selected according to needs.

[0137] Among them, the thickness of the SN block is less than 1 mm. Those skilled in the art can understand that the thickness of the SN block can be any value less than 1 mm.

[0138] Exemplarily, in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 in the scintillator 10, k SN blocks are distributed in parallel in a layered manner to form a layered encoding element (encoded using a one-dimensional space encoding function), and the distance between adjacent ones is d millimeters. Among them, k is any value in the range of 1 to 20. It can be understood that the size of k is related to the depth of the scintillator 10 (here the depth direction is the same as Figure 2in the same depth direction as shown, where d is any value from 1 to 10. Of course, it can be understood that the distances between SN blocks that make up the same layered coding element can be the same or different. Similarly, the SN blocks that make up the same layered coding element can be parallel or non - parallel.

[0139] In the scintillator 10, the detection element 20 can be in a mesh coding mode (coded using a two - dimensional or three - dimensional space coding function) in addition to the layered coding mode.

[0140] Specifically, the mesh coding element is formed by at least two layers of layered coding elements intersecting at a preset angle. Exemplarily, in the Figure 8 shown embodiment, the mesh coding element is formed by two layers of layered coding elements intersecting at 90°, that is, on the basis of one layer of layered coding element, another layer of layered coding element is added in its vertical direction. For example, one layer of layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 shown depth direction, and another layer of layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 shown thickness direction. The relationship between SN blocks within one layer of layered coding element can be the same as that of the layered coding element coded using a one - dimensional space coding function above. The distance between SN blocks in another layer of layered coding element is e millimeters, and the number of layers is i. Where e is any value from 1 to 10, and i is any value from 1 to 20. It can be understood that the size of i is related to the thickness of the scintillator 10.

[0141] Exemplarily, the mesh coding element can also be formed by three layers of layered coding elements intersecting pairwise at 90°, that is, on the basis of two layers of layered coding elements, another layer of layered coding element is added in the direction perpendicular to both of them. For example, the first layer of layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 shown depth direction, the second layer of layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 shown thickness direction, and the third layer of layered coding element is arranged in the Figure 2 shown tangential direction. It can be understood that when the detection element 20 is embedded in the scintillator 10 in a layered coding mode, spatial resolution in the depth direction of the scintillator 10 can be achieved. When the detection element 20 is embedded in the scintillator 10 in a two - layer layered coding mode (mesh coding), spatial resolution in both the depth direction and the thickness direction of the scintillator 10 can be achieved. When the detection element 20 is embedded in the scintillator 10 in a three - layer layered coding mode (mesh coding), spatial resolution in the depth direction, thickness direction, and tangential direction of the scintillator 10 can be achieved.

[0142] Among them, the distances between SN blocks that constitute the same layered coding element are the same or different. It should be particularly noted that arranging the SN blocks within the same layered coding element with the same distance interval is beneficial to the production and manufacturing of the detection unit and can simplify the calculations in subsequent graphic processes. However, it is less flexible than arranging the SN blocks within the same layered coding element with different distance intervals. When arranging the SN blocks within the same layered coding element with different distance intervals, specific arrangement methods can be selected based on prior experience. For example, according to the roles played by each detection unit at different positions in the detection device during the detection process, or the roles played by each point position in each detection unit during the detection process, specific arrangement methods can be set to achieve a reasonable arrangement of SN blocks, thereby further improving the imaging accuracy.

[0143] In addition, it should be particularly noted that when the distance between SN blocks within the same layered coding element is smaller, the imaging accuracy is higher, but at the same time, the manufacturing cost of the detection unit also increases accordingly.

[0144] It should be particularly noted that when spatially coding the SN blocks within the scintillator 10 using a two-dimensional or three-dimensional spatial coding function, the angle between two layers of layered coding elements is preferably 90°. At this time, the performance of each position of the scintillator 10 is relatively uniform, the decoding difficulty is low, and the manufacturing difficulty is also small. Of course, it can be understood that the angle between two layers of layered coding elements can be any value between 0 and 90°.

[0145] It should be particularly noted that during the process of embedding the SN blocks in the scintillator 10, the scintillator 10 can also act as a substrate for the SN blocks and play a supporting role for the SN blocks. During the manufacturing process, the SN blocks can be arranged according to a preset spatial coding function first. Since the SN beam 21 itself has a certain hardness, it can be self-supporting during the manufacturing process. Then, the scintillator 10 is fabricated on the SN blocks through growth or processing methods, thereby embedding the SN blocks in the scintillator 10.

[0146] Furthermore, in the spatial coding detection unit provided in this application, only layered coding elements arranged using a one-dimensional spatial function can be set within the scintillator 10, or reticular coding elements (including two layers of layered coding elements) arranged crosswise or non-crosswise using a two-dimensional spatial function can be set, or reticular coding elements (including three layers of layered coding elements) arranged crosswise or non-crosswise using a three-dimensional spatial function can be set.

[0147] Furthermore, in the spatial encoding detection unit provided by the present application, two or more sets of layered encoding elements arranged using the same or different one-dimensional spatial functions can be provided in the scintillator 10, or two or more sets of mesh encoding elements (including two or more sets of two-layered encoding elements) arranged in a crossed or non-crossed manner using the same or different two-dimensional spatial functions can be provided, or two or more sets of mesh encoding elements (including two or more sets of three-layered encoding elements) arranged in a crossed or non-crossed manner using the same or different three-dimensional spatial functions can be provided.

[0148] Those skilled in the art can understand that the sizes, shapes, structures, and materials of different SN blocks embedded in the same scintillator 10 can be the same or different.

[0149] Corresponding to the above spatial encoding method, the present application further provides a spatial encoding device, which generally includes an encoding unit for embedding detection elements in a scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function, and the detection elements detect high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constants.

[0150] It should be particularly noted that for other features of the spatial encoding device provided by the present application, reference can be made to the above spatial encoding method, which will not be elaborated here. Similarly, those skilled in the art can understand that the technical effects achievable by the spatial encoding device provided by the present application correspond to the above spatial encoding method.

[0151] Corresponding to the above spatial encoding device and spatial encoding method, the present application further provides a spatial decoding method. As Figure 11 shown, the spatial decoding method provided by the present application generally includes the following steps:

[0152] S20: Obtain the signal intensity generated by the detection element, where the signal intensity includes the signal intensity corresponding to high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constants;

[0153] S30: Determine the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator according to the preset spatial encoding function and the signal intensity.

[0154] Among them, the preset spatial encoding function can be a one-dimensional spatial function, a two-dimensional spatial function, or a three-dimensional spatial function. That is, in the present application, the detection elements are pre-embedded in the scintillator according to the preset spatial encoding function. Exemplarily, during decoding, the corresponding spatial decoding function can be obtained according to the preset spatial encoding function, so that the deposition position of high-energy rays in the scintillator can be determined according to the spatial decoding function and the signal intensity.

[0155] Among them, the signal intensity can be energy or peak value, or can also be the signal arrival time, voltage, current value, etc.

[0156] Specifically, in an example of the present application, as Figure 12 shown, the above step S30 includes:

[0157] S31: Obtain the position information of all superconducting nanoblocks in the scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function;

[0158] S32: Jointly determine the deposition position of the high-energy ray in the scintillator according to all the position information and signal intensity information.

[0159] Among them, step S31 can be extended to obtain a spatial decoding function according to a preset spatial encoding function, so as to obtain the position information of the superconducting nanoblocks in the scintillator.

[0160] More specifically, the above step S32 can further include:

[0161] Determine the position of the superconducting nanoblock with the maximum signal intensity as the deposition position.

[0162] For example, in an example, assume that the SN blocks are arranged in a layered encoding manner in the scintillator. In the depth direction of the scintillator, the SN blocks are arranged in order from bottom to top, numbered 1, 2, 3... k respectively, and the positions are x1, x2, x3,..., x k . In a certain event, the signal conditions generated by each SN block are A1, A2, A3,..., A k , then the deposition depth of this event in the scintillator is the position x k of the SN block that generates the signal intensity of max{A1, A2, A3,..., A i , where both k and i are natural numbers.

[0163] More specifically, the above step S32 can also further include:

[0164] Use the signal intensities of all superconducting nanoblocks as weights to weight the position information of all superconducting nanoblocks to obtain the deposition position.

[0165] For example, in an example, let the central depths (the same applies to other spatial coordinates) of the SN blocks be d1, d2, d3,..., d n , and in a certain detection, the generated signal intensities are I1, I2, I3,..., I n , then the speculated deposition position is d * , and the calculation formula is as follows formula 1.

[0166]

[0167] It should be particularly noted that the d * obtained through the above calculationIt can be any point within the scintillator, which may or may not be on a certain SN block. Compared with the solution in the previous example that uses the position of the SN block with the maximum signal intensity as the deposition depth of the high-energy ray in the scintillator, the weighted processing method adopted in this example can obtain a more accurate deposition depth and can perform super-resolution on the deposition depth.

[0168] Different signal sources - high-energy ray signal, scintillation light signal, dielectric constant change signal, are all pulse signals. The difference lies in the pulse width / decay time and waveform. In subsequent data processing, the pulse width / decay time and waveform are calculated in the host computer through the digitized readout signal, and the three signals are distinguished by classification methods. For the three signals, the arrival time of the scintillation light is obtained by means such as Leading Edge Discrimination (LED for short) and Constant-Fraction Discriminator (CFD for short); the energy of the high-energy ray is obtained by numerical integration methods or function fitting integration, such as fitting models including linear-exponential, double-exponential, etc.

[0169] According to some embodiments of the present application, the pulse signal output by the detection element is sampled by using the Multi Voltage Threshold (MVT) sampling method or tools such as an oscilloscope or an analog-to-digital converter to obtain information about the high-energy ray, for example, the energy information and time information of the ray.

[0170] Figure 13 A block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 13 The shown electronic device is only an example and should not impose any limitation on the functions and usage scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0171] As Figure 13 shown, the electronic device is presented in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of the electronic device may include but are not limited to: at least one processor 910, at least one memory 920, a bus 930 connecting different system components (including the memory 920 and the processor 910), a display unit 940, etc. Among them, the memory 920 stores program codes, and the program codes can be executed by the processor 910, so that the processor 910 executes the methods according to various exemplary embodiments of the present application described in this specification. For example, the processor 910 can execute the method as Figures 8 - 11 shown.

[0172] The memory 920 may include a readable medium in the form of volatile storage units, such as a random access storage unit (RAM) 9201 and / or a cache storage unit 9202, and may further include a read-only storage unit (ROM) 9203.

[0173] The memory 920 may also include a program / utility 9204 having a set (at least one) of program modules 9205. Such program modules 9205 include, but are not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0174] The bus 930 may represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of a variety of bus structures.

[0175] The electronic device may also communicate with one or more external devices 900 (such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a Bluetooth device, etc.), may also communicate with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device, and / or may communicate with any device that enables the electronic device to communicate with one or more other computing devices (such as a router, a modem, etc.). Such communication may be carried out through an input / output (I / O) interface 950. Moreover, the electronic device may also communicate with one or more networks (such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and / or a public network, such as the Internet) through a network adapter 960. The network adapter 960 may communicate with other modules of the electronic device through the bus 930. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figure, other hardware and / or software modules may be used in conjunction with the electronic device, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems, etc.

[0176] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can easily understand that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software, or can be implemented by a combination of software and necessary hardware. The technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product. The software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, and includes several computer program instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the above methods according to the embodiments of the present application.

[0177] A software product may employ any combination of one or more readable media. The readable media can be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the readable storage medium include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0178] A computer-readable storage medium may include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as part of a carrier wave, in which the readable program code is carried. Such a propagated data signal can take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the above. The readable storage medium can also be any readable medium other than the readable storage medium, which can send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code contained on the readable storage medium can be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

[0179] The program code for performing the operations of this application can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages such as Java, C++, etc., and also including conventional procedural programming languages such as C language or similar programming languages. The program code can be executed entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's device, executed as an independent software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In the case of a remote computing device, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or, it can be connected to an external computing device (for example, by using an Internet service provider to connect through the Internet).

[0180] The above computer-readable medium bears one or more program instructions, and when the above one or more program instructions are executed by a device, the computer-readable medium realizes the foregoing functions.

[0181] Those skilled in the art can understand that the above-mentioned modules can be distributed in the device according to the description of the embodiments, or can be correspondingly changed and distributed in one or more devices that are only different from this embodiment. The multiple modules of the above embodiments can be combined into one module, or one module can be further split into multiple sub-modules.

[0182] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can easily understand that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software, or can be implemented by a combination of software and necessary hardware. The technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, including several computer program instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the above methods according to the embodiments of the present application.

[0183] The software product can adopt any combination of one or more readable media. The readable medium can be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the readable storage medium include: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0184] The computer-readable storage medium may include a data signal carried in a baseband or as a part of a carrier wave, in which the readable program code is carried. Such a propagated data signal can take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the above. The readable storage medium can also be any readable medium other than the readable storage medium, which can send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code contained on the readable storage medium can be transmitted by any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

[0185] The program code for performing the operations of this application can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages such as Java, C++, etc., and also including conventional procedural programming languages such as the C language or similar programming languages. The program code can be executed entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's device, executed as an independent software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In the case of a remote computing device, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computing device (e.g., by using an Internet service provider to connect through the Internet).

[0186] The above computer-readable medium carries one or more program instructions, and when the one or more program instructions are executed by a device, the computer-readable medium realizes the foregoing functions.

[0187] Those skilled in the art can understand that the above-mentioned modules can be distributed in the device according to the description of the embodiments, or can be correspondingly changed and distributed in one or more devices that are only different from this embodiment. The multiple modules of the above embodiments can be combined into one module, or one module can be further split into multiple sub-modules.

[0188] Although this application provides the method operation steps as described in the above embodiments or flowcharts, more or fewer operation steps can be included in the method based on routine or non-creative labor. In steps where there is no necessary causal relationship logically, the execution order of these steps is not limited to the execution order provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0189] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner. The same or similar parts among the embodiments can be referred to each other, and the key point of each embodiment is to illustrate the differences from other embodiments.

[0190] The above has introduced the embodiments of this application in detail. Specific examples are used in this article to elaborate on the principle and implementation manner of this application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core idea of this application. At the same time, changes or deformations made by those skilled in the art based on the idea of this application in terms of the specific implementation manner and application scope of this application all belong to the protection scope of this application. In summary, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation to this application.

Claims

1. A spatial encoding detection unit, characterized in that, The space-encoded detection unit includes: a scintillator; and, detection elements, at least a part of the detection elements being embedded in the scintillator according to a preset space-encoding function, the detection elements being used to detect high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constant.

2. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 1, wherein The preset space-encoding function includes a one-dimensional space function, a two-dimensional space function, or a three-dimensional space function.

3. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The detection elements include layered encoding elements or reticular encoding elements, and both the layered encoding elements and the reticular encoding elements are arranged according to the preset space-encoding function.

4. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 3, characterized in that, The reticular encoding element is formed by at least two layers of the layered encoding elements intersecting at a preset angle.

5. The spatial coding detection unit according to claim 3, wherein The reticular encoding element is formed by two layers of the layered encoding elements intersecting at 90°.

6. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 3, characterized in that, The reticular encoding element is formed by three layers of the layered encoding elements intersecting pairwise at 90°.

7. The spatial coding detection unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The detection elements are made of superconducting nanowires.

8. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 7, wherein The material of the superconducting nanowires includes at least one of NbTiN, NbN, NbSiN, NbReN, and WSi.

9. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 7, characterized in that, The detection elements are formed into superconducting nanoblocks, the superconducting nanoblocks are formed by superconducting nanobeams, and the superconducting nanobeams are formed by at least one of the superconducting nanowires.

10. The spatial coding detection unit according to claim 9, wherein, The superconducting nanoblock includes at least one superconducting nanosurface formed by the superconducting nanobeams in a preset bending manner, and the superconducting nanosurfaces belonging to the same superconducting nanoblock are sequentially connected.

11. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 10, wherein The distances between the superconducting nanosurfaces in the same superconducting nanoblock are the same or different; and / or, The distances between the superconducting nanoblocks in the same layered encoding element are the same or different.

12. The spatial encoding detection unit according to claim 9, wherein The thickness of the superconducting nanoblock is less than 1 mm.

13. The spatial coding detection unit according to claim 9, characterized in that, The superconducting nanoblocks are connected to the readout circuit in a one-to-one correspondence.

14. The spatial coding detection unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The scintillator includes an inorganic scintillation crystal, a plastic scintillator, or a Cherenkov scintillator.

15. A spatial coding detector, characterized in that, The space-encoded detector includes at least one space-encoded detection unit according to any one of claims 1-14.

16. The spatial coding detector according to claim 15, wherein The space-encoded detection units are distributed in an array.

17. The spatial coding detector according to claim 15, characterized in that, The detection elements in different space-encoded detection units are arranged according to the same or different space-encoding functions.

18. The spatial coding detector according to claim 15, wherein A shielding layer is provided between adjacent space-encoded detection units.

19. A spatial encoding method, characterized in that, The space-encoding method includes: Embedding at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a preset space-encoding function, the detection elements detecting high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constant.

20. The spatial encoding method according to claim 19, wherein The embedding at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a preset space-encoding function includes: Embedding at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a one-dimensional space function, a two-dimensional space function, or a three-dimensional space function.

21. The spatial coding method according to claim 19, wherein The detection elements include layered encoding elements or reticular encoding elements, and both the layered encoding elements and the reticular encoding elements are arranged according to the preset space-encoding function.

22. The spatial coding method according to claim 21, wherein The reticular encoding element is formed by at least two layers of the layered encoding elements intersecting at a preset angle.

23. The spatial encoding method according to claim 21, wherein The reticular encoding element is formed by two layers of the layered encoding elements intersecting at 90°.

24. The spatial coding method according to claim 21, wherein, The reticular encoding element is formed by three layers of the layered encoding elements intersecting pairwise at 90°.

25. The spatial coding method according to claim 19, wherein The detection elements are made of superconducting nanowires.

26. The spatial encoding method according to claim 25, characterized in that, The material of the superconducting nanowire includes at least one of NbTiN, NbN, NbSiN, NbReN, and WSi.

27. The spatial encoding method according to claim 25, characterized in that, The detection element forms a superconducting nanoblock, the superconducting nanobundle is formed by at least one of the superconducting nanowires, and the superconducting nanoblock is formed by the superconducting nanobundle.

28. The spatial encoding method according to claim 27, wherein The superconducting nanosurface is formed by at least one of the superconducting nanobundles in a preset bending manner, and the superconducting nanoblock is formed by sequentially connecting the superconducting nanosurfaces.

29. The spatial encoding method according to claim 28, wherein The distance between the superconducting nanosurfaces in the same superconducting nanoblock is set to be the same or different; and / or, The distance between the superconducting nanoblocks in the same layered encoding element is set to be the same or different.

30. The spatial encoding method according to claim 27, wherein The thickness of the superconducting nanoblock is less than 1 mm.

31. The spatial encoding method according to claim 27, wherein The superconducting nanoblock is connected to the readout circuit in a one-to-one correspondence.

32. The spatial encoding method according to claim 19, wherein The scintillator includes an inorganic scintillation crystal, a plastic scintillator, or a Cherenkov scintillator.

33. A spatial encoding device, characterized in that, The spatial encoding device includes: An encoding unit, configured to ambush at least a part of the detection elements in the scintillator according to a preset spatial encoding function, and the detection elements detect high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constant.

34. A spatial decoding method for a spatial encoding detector as described in any one of claims 15-18, characterized in that, The spatial decoding method includes: Obtaining the signal intensity generated by the detection element, where the signal intensity includes the signal intensity corresponding to high-energy rays, visible light, and / or dielectric constant; Determining the deposition position of the high-energy ray in the scintillator according to the preset spatial encoding function and the signal intensity.

35. The spatial decoding method according to claim 34, wherein The determining the deposition position of the high-energy ray in the scintillator according to the preset spatial encoding function and the signal intensity includes: Obtaining the position information of all the superconducting nanoblocks in the detection element in the scintillator according to the preset spatial encoding function; Jointly determining the deposition position of the high-energy ray in the scintillator according to all the position information and the signal intensity information.

36. The spatial decoding method according to claim 35, wherein The jointly determining the deposition position of the high-energy ray according to all the position information and the signal intensity information includes: Determining the position of the superconducting nanoblock with the maximum signal intensity as the deposition position.

37. The spatial decoding method according to claim 36, wherein The jointly determining the deposition position of the high-energy ray according to all the position information and the signal intensity information includes: Using the signal intensity of all the superconducting nanoblocks as weights, and weighting the position information of all the superconducting nanoblocks to obtain the deposition position.

38. The spatial decoding method according to claim 34, wherein The signal intensity includes the energy, peak value, arrival time, voltage, and current value of the signal.

39. A spatial encoding detection device, characterized in that, The spatial encoding detection device includes the spatial encoding detector according to any one of claims 15-18.

40. The spatial coding detection device according to claim 39, characterized in that, The spatial encoding detection device further includes a detection ring, the spatial encoding detector is disposed in the detection ring, and the operating temperature of the detection ring is less than 10 K.

41. An electronic device, characterized in that, The electronic device includes: One or more processors; A storage device, configured to store one or more programs; When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the spatial encoding method according to any one of claims 19-32 or the spatial decoding method according to any one of claims 34-38.

42. A storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement the spatial encoding method according to any one of claims 19-32 or the spatial decoding method according to any one of claims 34-38.

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