Method, apparatus, device and storage medium for digitizing flicker pulses

Abstract

The application discloses a scintillation pulse digitization method, device, equipment and storage medium, the digitization method comprises the following steps: presetting a plurality of threshold values; comparing a to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold value in the plurality of threshold values, outputting a jump signal and switching a next threshold value when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold value, and continuing until the comparison of each threshold value is completed; and sampling the jump signal in sequence to obtain a threshold value-time pair corresponding to the time when the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds each threshold value. The scintillation pulse digitization method, device, equipment and storage medium disclosed by the application can effectively reduce the hardware resources and logic resources occupied by signal sampling through dynamic switching of threshold values, and can also improve the accuracy of sampling points and the performance of a sampling system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of signal sampling, and in particular to a method, apparatus, device and storage medium for digitizing scintillation pulses. Background Technology

[0002] In a range of applications involving high-energy radiation, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and radiation detection, high-energy rays, such as gamma rays, are converted into visible light signals by scintillation crystals. These visible light signals are further converted into scintillation pulse signals by photoelectric conversion devices. A series of application images can then be obtained by sampling and processing these scintillation pulse signals. In this process, the digitization quality of the scintillation pulses has a significant impact on the final image quality.

[0003] In recent years, with the development of digital signal processing technologies and methods, directly digitizing scintillation pulses and using software algorithms to replace traditional analog circuits for information extraction, such as particle energy deposition information, has great development potential. Compared with traditional equal-time-interval sampling methods, the multi-voltage threshold sampling (MVT) method is a more promising digital processing method for scintillation pulses.

[0004] like Figure 1 As shown, in the MVT sampling method, the time information of the input flicker pulse waveform crossing a set threshold is usually obtained through TDC (Time-to-Digital Converter) technology, and then the waveform information of the flicker pulse is reconstructed based on the corresponding voltage-time pair information. In most cases, multiple voltage thresholds are set, such as four voltage thresholds, and each voltage threshold corresponds to one channel for subsequent time measurement. The flicker pulse signal is input to the LVDS comparator through one pin of each LVDS (Low-Voltage Differential Signaling) comparator. The preset voltage threshold is input to the LVDS comparator through the DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter). One TDC in each channel is used to convert the time of the flicker pulse crossing the corresponding threshold, and the other TDC is used to convert the time of the flicker pulse below the threshold, thereby obtaining a series of voltage-time pair information.

[0005] In the above structure, the TDC is usually implemented by using a carry chain inside the FPGA, which consumes certain logic resources inside the FPGA. For example, a single channel of scintillation pulse waveform input corresponds to 4 channels of comparators, which consumes 8 input pins and 8 channels of TDC measurement modules inside the FPGA. For a detector array of 12x6, which is the most common, there are 72 scintillation pulse signals in total, which requires 576 input pins, and a single TDC module consumes about 2-3K logic resources.

[0006] Usually, a single FPGA chip cannot meet the requirements of pins or logic resources. One solution is to use multiple FPGA chips, for example, 2 FPGA chips. However, on the one hand, the resource utilization rate of the double FPGA chips reaches more than 80%, and due to the limitation of resources, the measurement accuracy of the TDC module is also restricted; on the other hand, the high resource utilization rate makes the board card generate a large amount of heat, the working temperature is too high, the measurement accuracy of the TDC is affected, and the design difficulty of the system heat dissipation is also increased. In addition, using more FPGA chips increases the cost. SUMMARY

[0007] The technical problem to be solved by the embodiments of the present application is how to reduce the resource consumption in the digital sampling process of the scintillation pulse signal and improve the sampling performance.

[0008] To solve the above problems, the present application discloses a scintillation pulse digitization method, device, equipment and storage medium.

[0009] According to the first aspect of the present application, a scintillation pulse digitization method is provided, which comprises: presetting a plurality of threshold values; comparing a to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold value in the plurality of threshold values, outputting a jump signal and switching to the next threshold value when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold value, and comparing all the threshold values until each threshold value is compared; and sequentially sampling the jump signal to obtain a threshold-time pair corresponding to each threshold value when the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the threshold value.

[0010] According to some embodiments, the threshold value is set by a threshold setting device.

[0011] According to some embodiments, the threshold value includes a voltage threshold value, a current threshold value, an energy threshold value, and a sound intensity threshold value.

[0012] According to some embodiments, the size of the threshold value is set to be not more than the maximum amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0013] According to some embodiments, the number of threshold values is set to 2-8.

[0014] According to some of the embodiments, comparing the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the threshold value comprises comparing, by a comparison module, a magnitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a size of the current threshold value.

[0015] According to some of the embodiments, the plurality of threshold values are set by a same threshold setting device, and the comparison is implemented by a same comparison module.

[0016] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises a rising edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold value or a falling edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold value.

[0017] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises an average jump of a rising edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold value multiple times within a same time window or an average jump of a falling edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold value multiple times within a same time window.

[0018] According to some of the embodiments, the comparison of the first threshold value and the other threshold values is respectively completed at a rising edge and a falling edge of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0019] According to some of the embodiments, part of the threshold values are switched in a descending order.

[0020] According to some of the embodiments, sequentially sampling the jump signal comprises: respectively acquiring, based on a preset order, a time corresponding to a rising edge or a falling edge of the jump signal.

[0021] According to some of the embodiments, the preset order comprises a first order determined according to part of the threshold values in an ascending order and a second order determined according to part of the threshold values in a descending order.

[0022] According to some of the embodiments, the sampling is implemented by a circuit comprising a time-to-digital converter, and the time-to-digital converter sequentially implements time sampling of all the jump signals.

[0023] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises a state signal for indicating the threshold value switching, and the next threshold value is switched according to the state signal.

[0024] According to some of the embodiments, the threshold-time pair comprises a jump time acquired by time sampling of the jump signal and a corresponding threshold value.

[0025] According to a second aspect of the present application, a method for digitizing a scintillation pulse is provided, the method comprising: presetting a plurality of thresholds; comparing a to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a largest threshold among the thresholds, outputting a jump signal and switching a next threshold when an amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the largest threshold, and comparing all the thresholds; and sampling the jump signal in sequence to obtain a threshold-time pair corresponding to each threshold when the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the threshold.

[0026] According to some embodiments, the thresholds are set by a threshold setting device.

[0027] According to some embodiments, the thresholds comprise voltage thresholds, current thresholds, energy thresholds, or sound intensity thresholds.

[0028] According to some embodiments, the size of the thresholds is set to be no more than the maximum amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0029] According to some embodiments, the number of the thresholds is set to be 2-8.

[0030] According to some embodiments, the comparison of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the thresholds comprises comparing the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the size of a current threshold by a comparison module.

[0031] According to some embodiments, the plurality of thresholds are set by a same threshold setting device, and the comparison is implemented by a same comparison module.

[0032] According to some embodiments, the jump signal comprises a rising edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the threshold or a falling edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the threshold.

[0033] According to some embodiments, the jump signal comprises an average jump of a rising edge or a falling edge of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeding the threshold multiple times within a same time window.

[0034] According to some embodiments, the comparison of the plurality of thresholds is completed at a rising edge or a falling edge of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0035] According to some embodiments, the thresholds are switched in descending order.

[0036] According to some embodiments, the sampling of the jump signal in sequence comprises obtaining a time corresponding to a rising edge or a falling edge of the jump signal based on a preset order.

[0037] According to some of the embodiments, the sampling is implemented by a circuit comprising a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially implements the time sampling of the jump signal.

[0038] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises a state signal indicative of the threshold switching, according to which the next threshold is switched.

[0039] According to some of the embodiments, the threshold-time pairs comprise a jump time obtained by time sampling of the jump signal and a corresponding threshold.

[0040] According to a third aspect of the present application, there is provided a method for digitizing a scintillation pulse, the method comprising: presetting a plurality of thresholds; comparing a to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold of the thresholds, outputting a jump signal and switching to a maximum threshold when an amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold; outputting a jump signal and sequentially switching to a next threshold when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the maximum threshold until comparison of all the thresholds is completed; and sequentially sampling the jump signals to obtain threshold-time pairs corresponding to the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeding each threshold.

[0041] According to some of the embodiments, the thresholds are set by a threshold setting device.

[0042] According to some of the embodiments, the thresholds comprise voltage thresholds, current thresholds, energy thresholds, and sound intensity thresholds.

[0043] According to some of the embodiments, the thresholds are set to be no more than a maximum amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0044] According to some of the embodiments, the number of the thresholds is set to be 2-8.

[0045] According to some of the embodiments, the comparison of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the thresholds comprises comparing, by a comparison module, the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a size of a current threshold.

[0046] According to some of the embodiments, the plurality of thresholds are set by a same threshold setting device, and the comparison is implemented by a same comparison module.

[0047] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises a rising edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the threshold or a falling edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the threshold.

[0048] According to some embodiments, the jump signal comprises an average jump of rising edges of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crossing the threshold value multiple times within a same time window or an average jump of falling edges of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crossing the threshold value multiple times within a same time window.

[0049] According to some embodiments, the comparison of the first threshold value is completed at a rising edge of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse, and the comparison of the rest of the threshold values is completed at a falling edge of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0050] According to some embodiments, the digitization method further comprises, after the comparison of the first threshold value is completed, comparing the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a second threshold value of the threshold values, the second threshold value having an amplitude greater than the first threshold value, determining a valid trigger when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the second threshold value, and switching to a maximum threshold value.

[0051] According to some embodiments, the rest of the threshold values are switched in a descending order in addition to the first threshold value.

[0052] According to some embodiments, sequentially sampling the jump signal comprises respectively acquiring time points corresponding to rising edges or falling edges of the jump signal based on a preset order.

[0053] According to some embodiments, the sampling is realized by a circuit comprising a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially realizes time sampling of the jump signal.

[0054] According to some embodiments, the jump signal comprises a state signal for indicating switching of the threshold values, and the next threshold value is switched according to the state signal.

[0055] According to some embodiments, the threshold-time pairs comprise jump times acquired by time sampling of the jump signal and corresponding threshold values.

[0056] According to a fourth aspect of the present application, a digitization method of a scintillation pulse is provided, the digitization method comprising: presetting a plurality of threshold values; comparing a to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold value of the threshold values, outputting a jump signal and sequentially switching to a next threshold value when an amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the first threshold value; outputting a jump signal when an amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses a maximum threshold value, and completing the comparison; sequentially sampling the jump signal, and acquiring threshold-time pairs corresponding to the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crossing each threshold value in combination with prior information.

[0057] According to some embodiments, the threshold values are set by a threshold setting device.

[0058] According to some of the embodiments, the threshold comprises a voltage threshold, a current threshold, an energy threshold, a sound intensity threshold.

[0059] According to some of the embodiments, the size of the threshold is set to be no more than the maximum amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0060] According to some of the embodiments, the number of the thresholds is set to be 2-8.

[0061] According to some of the embodiments, comparing the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the threshold comprises comparing the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the size of the current threshold by a comparison module.

[0062] According to some of the embodiments, the plurality of thresholds are set by a same threshold setting device, and the comparison is realized by a same comparison module.

[0063] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises a rising edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold or a falling edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold.

[0064] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises an average jump of a rising edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold multiple times within a same time window or an average jump of a falling edge indicating that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the threshold multiple times within a same time window.

[0065] According to some of the embodiments, the comparison of the plurality of thresholds is completed at a rising edge or a falling edge of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0066] According to some of the embodiments, the digitization method further comprises, after the comparison of the first threshold is completed, comparing the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a second threshold of the thresholds, the amplitude of the second threshold being greater than the first threshold, determining that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse is valid when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse crosses the second threshold, and switching a next threshold.

[0067] According to some of the embodiments, the plurality of thresholds are switched in an order from small to large.

[0068] According to some of the embodiments, sequentially sampling the jump signal comprises respectively acquiring time points corresponding to the rising edge or the falling edge of the jump signal based on a preset order.

[0069] According to some of the embodiments, the sampling is realized by a circuit comprising a time-to-digital converter, and the time-to-digital converter sequentially realizes the time sampling of the jump signal.

[0070] According to some of the embodiments, the jump signal comprises a state signal used for indicating the switching of the threshold, and the next threshold is switched according to the state signal.

[0071] According to some embodiments, the prior information is the shape of the scintillation pulse to be processed, and the prior information is obtained by pre-experiment.

[0072] According to some embodiments, the threshold-time pairs include a jump time obtained by time sampling the jump signal and a corresponding threshold.

[0073] According to a fifth aspect of the present application, a scintillation pulse digitizing device is provided, comprising: an obtaining module for obtaining a scintillation pulse to be processed; a threshold switching module for switching a plurality of preset thresholds; a comparing module for comparing the scintillation pulse to be processed with a current threshold switched by the threshold switching module, and outputting a jump signal when the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses the current threshold; and a sampling module for sequentially time sampling the jump signal to obtain corresponding scintillation pulse threshold-time pairs.

[0074] According to some embodiments, the threshold switching module comprises a digital-to-analog converter for presetting a plurality of thresholds.

[0075] According to some embodiments, the threshold switching module is configured to output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold when an amplitude of the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses a first threshold, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0076] According to some embodiments, the threshold switching module is configured to switch to a next threshold according to a state signal indicating the threshold switching, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0077] According to some embodiments, the comparing module comprises a comparator for comparing the scintillation pulse to be processed with a current threshold.

[0078] According to some embodiments, the comparing module is configured to compare the scintillation pulse to be processed with a first threshold of the plurality of thresholds, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold when an amplitude of the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses the first threshold, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0079] According to some embodiments, the comparing module is configured to compare the scintillation pulse to be processed with a maximum threshold of the thresholds, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold when an amplitude of the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses the maximum threshold, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0080] According to some embodiments, the comparison module is configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold value of the threshold values, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold value in sequence when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold value, and output a jump signal when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds a maximum threshold value.

[0081] According to some embodiments, the comparison module is configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold value of the threshold values, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold value in sequence when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold value, and output a jump signal when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds a maximum threshold value.

[0082] According to some embodiments, the sampling module comprises a time-to-digital converter configured to sequentially implement time sampling of the jump signal.

[0083] According to some embodiments, the digitizing device further comprises a control module configured to receive a state signal generated by the comparison module and control the threshold value switching module to switch to a next threshold value.

[0084] According to some embodiments, the scintillation pulse threshold-time pair comprises a jump time obtained by time sampling of the jump signal and a threshold value corresponding to the jump time.

[0085] According to some embodiments, the digitizing device further comprises a data transmission module configured to transmit the threshold-time pair data.

[0086] According to some embodiments, the digitizing device further comprises an image reconstruction module configured to process the threshold-time pair according to a preset algorithm.

[0087] According to a sixth aspect of the present application, a digitizing device for scintillation pulses is provided, which comprises: a plurality of acquisition modules configured to acquire to-be-processed scintillation pulses; a plurality of threshold value switching modules configured to switch a plurality of preset threshold values; a plurality of parallel comparison modules, each of which is connected to one of the acquisition modules and one of the threshold value switching modules, and each of which is configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a current threshold value switched by the threshold value switching module and output a jump signal when the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the current threshold value; and a sampling module configured to sequentially implement time sampling of the jump signals from the comparison modules and obtain corresponding scintillation pulse threshold-time pairs.

[0088] According to some embodiments, the threshold value switching module comprises a digital-to-analog converter configured to preset the plurality of threshold values.

[0089] According to some embodiments, the threshold switching module is configured to output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0090] According to some embodiments, the threshold switching module is configured to switch to a next threshold according to a state signal indicating the threshold switching, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0091] According to some embodiments, the comparison module comprises a comparator configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the current threshold.

[0092] According to some embodiments, the comparison module is configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold of the thresholds, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0093] According to some embodiments, the comparison module is configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a maximum threshold of the thresholds, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the maximum threshold, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0094] According to some embodiments, the comparison module is configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold of the thresholds, output a jump signal and switch to a maximum threshold when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold in order when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the maximum threshold, until all the thresholds are compared.

[0095] According to some embodiments, the comparison module is configured to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with a first threshold of the thresholds, output a jump signal and switch to a next threshold in order when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold, output a jump signal and complete the comparison when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds a maximum threshold.

[0096] According to some embodiments, the sampling module comprises a time-to-digital converter configured to sequentially implement time sampling of the jump signal.

[0097] According to some embodiments, the digitizing device further comprises a plurality of control modules configured to receive a state signal generated by a corresponding comparison module and control a corresponding threshold switching module to switch to a next threshold.

[0098] According to some embodiments, the flicker pulse threshold-time pair comprises a threshold value corresponding to a time sample of the flicker signal.

[0099] According to some embodiments, the digitizing device further comprises a data sending module for sending the threshold-time pair data.

[0100] According to some embodiments, the digitizing device further comprises an image reconstruction module for processing the threshold-time pair according to a preset algorithm.

[0101] According to a seventh aspect of the present application, there is provided a digitizing device comprising the flicker pulse digitizing device according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0102] According to an eighth aspect of the present application, there is provided a digitizing device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the computer program is executed by the processor to implement the steps of the method according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0103] According to a ninth aspect of the present application, there is provided a computer readable storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the steps of the method according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0104] The flicker pulse digitizing method, device, equipment and storage medium disclosed in the present application can effectively reduce the hardware resources and logical resources occupied by sampling through dynamic switching of the threshold value, and can improve the accuracy of the sampling points and the performance of the sampling system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0105] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the drawings needed in the embodiments or prior art description will be briefly introduced as follows. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present application, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to these drawings without any creative effort.

[0106] Figure 1 is an exemplary processing circuit diagram of multi-voltage threshold sampling according to the prior art;

[0107] Figure 2 is an exemplary flowchart of the flicker pulse digitizing method according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0108] Figure 3 is an exemplary flowchart of the flicker pulse digitizing method according to some other embodiments of the present application;

[0109] Figure 4 is an exemplary flowchart of a method of digitizing a scintillation pulse according to yet other embodiments of the present application;

[0110] Figure 5 is an exemplary flowchart of a method of digitizing a scintillation pulse according to other embodiments of the present application;

[0111] Figure 6 is an exemplary schematic of a threshold of a scintillation pulse to be processed according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0112] Figure 7 is an exemplary schematic of a time sampling of a jump signal according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0113] Figure 8 is an exemplary schematic of a threshold, a scintillation pulse to be processed and a jump signal according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0114] Figure 9 is an exemplary schematic of a threshold, a scintillation pulse to be processed and a jump signal according to other embodiments of the present application;

[0115] Figure 10 is an exemplary block diagram of a data acquisition system of a digitizing device of a scintillation pulse according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0116] Figure 11 is an exemplary block diagram of a data acquisition system of a digitizing device of a scintillation pulse according to other embodiments of the present application;

[0117] Figure 12 is an exemplary connection diagram of a digitizing device of a scintillation pulse according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0118] Figure 13 is an exemplary connection diagram of a digitizing device of a scintillation pulse according to other embodiments of the present application; and

[0119] Figure 14 is an exemplary connection diagram of a digitizing device of a scintillation pulse according to some embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0120] In order to make the above objectives, features and advantages of the present application more clear and comprehensible, specific embodiments of the present application will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present application. However, the present application can be practiced in many different ways beyond the specific details described herein. Those skilled in the art will be able to understand and appreciate the embodiments of the present application without undue effort and experimentation. Therefore, the present application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0121] It is to be noted that when an element is referred to as being "on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements can also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements can also be present. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "left", "right" and similar expressions as used herein are for illustrative purposes only. The described features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present application. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the technology can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In these instances, well-known structures, methods, devices, implementations, materials, and operations are not shown or described in detail.

[0122] The flow diagrams shown in the drawings are merely illustrative examples and do not have to include all of the contents and operations / steps, nor do they have to be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps can be further divided, and some operations / steps can be combined or partially combined, so the actual execution order can be changed according to actual conditions.

[0123] The terms "first", "second", and the like as used in the specification and claims of the present application and the above drawings are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a particular order. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a list of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but can optionally include other steps or units not listed, or can optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product, or device. The term "and / or" or "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

[0124] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used in the description of the specification of the present application is only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present application.

[0125] Some preferred embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following description is for the purpose of illustration and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application.

[0126] Figure 2 is an exemplary flowchart of a method of digitizing a scintillation pulse according to some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments, the method of digitizing a scintillation pulse 200 can be performed by the data acquisition system 1000. For example, the method of digitizing a scintillation pulse 200 can be stored in the form of a program or instructions in a storage device (such as a storage unit of the data acquisition system 1000 or an external storage device) which, when executed, can implement the method of digitizing a scintillation pulse 200. As shown, the method of digitizing a scintillation pulse 200 can include the following operations. Figure 2

[0127] At step 210, N different threshold values are preset, where N is a natural number and N≥2.

[0128] In some embodiments, the N threshold values can be used to compare with the amplitude of a scintillation pulse to be processed. The comparison results can be used for time sampling to determine the time points at which the amplitude of the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses the threshold values. These time points, when matched with the corresponding threshold values, can be used for waveform recovery in subsequent processing (e.g., image reconstruction), such as recovering the waveform and / or the waveform area, and thus obtaining the waveform energy value.

[0129] In some embodiments, the scintillation pulse to be processed can be acquired by a detector, such as a PET detector, a CT detector, a neutron detector, an oil detector, which generally includes mutually coupled scintillation crystals and a photoelectric conversion device, where the scintillation crystals are used to convert the detected high-energy radiation (such as gamma rays, neutron rays, etc.) into a visible light signal, and the photoelectric conversion device (e.g., a photomultiplier tube PMT, a silicon photomultiplier SiPM, etc.) is used to convert the visible light signal into an electrical signal, which is output in the form of a scintillation pulse signal through the electronics connected to the photoelectric conversion device. For example, the scintillation pulse to be processed can be acquired by communicating with the detector through an acquisition module.

[0130] In some embodiments, the sizes of the threshold values are all within the amplitude of the scintillation pulse to be processed. Referring to Figure 6 , Figure 6 ​is an exemplary schematic diagram of exemplary relationships between threshold voltages and a flickering pulse according to some embodiments of the present application, where 610 represents a flickering pulse, which can be the flickering pulse to be processed mentioned in the present application. The waveform of the flickering pulse in the diagram shows that it has the characteristic that the rising period is very short, usually only a few nanoseconds, and can rise to the highest point. The falling period is longer, usually about 200 nanoseconds. 610-1, 610-2, 610-3, 610-4, …, 610-N represent N different thresholds. As can be seen, the sizes of the N thresholds are all within the amplitude of the flickering pulse. For example, assuming that the amplitude range of the flickering pulse signal to be processed is 3mV-220mV, if N=4, the four threshold voltages can be 20mV, 40mV, 60mV and 80mV respectively; if N=8, the eight threshold voltages can take eight values between 10mV-200mV in an arithmetic progression.

[0131] In embodiments of the present application, the flickering pulse signal should be understood as all pulse signals that can achieve sampling, which is essentially a physical quantity that mutates in a short time and then quickly returns to its initial value, and the physical quantity has certain characteristics. For example, in some embodiments, the flickering pulse usually has a rising edge and a falling edge, and the rising edge and the falling edge can be represented by a function model, for example, the flickering pulse corresponding to a gamma photon usually exhibits a relatively fast rising edge and a relatively slow falling edge, the rising edge can be characterized by a linear function, and the falling edge can be characterized by an exponential function. In other embodiments, the waveform of the pulse signal can also exhibit a triangular wave, a rectangular wave, a sine wave, a cosine wave or other wave shapes, which will not be described here.

[0132] In embodiments of the present application, the flickering pulse signal can be an electrical pulse signal, an acoustic pulse signal, a thermal pulse signal or a pressure wave signal, etc., for example, when the pulse signal is an electrical pulse signal, the corresponding characteristics can be the voltage and current of the electrical pulse signal; when the pulse signal is an acoustic pulse signal, the corresponding characteristics can be the sound intensity of the acoustic pulse signal, and so on, which will not be described here. Correspondingly, the threshold can have various forms, for example, when the pulse signal is an electrical pulse signal, the corresponding threshold can be a voltage threshold, a current threshold or an energy threshold; when the pulse signal is an acoustic pulse signal, the corresponding threshold can be a sound intensity threshold, and so on, which will not be described here.

[0133] Those skilled in the art should understand that the flickering pulse signal in the present application can be extended to a continuous signal, usually only the continuous signal is regarded as a pulse signal arranged in a certain period, and the pulse signal in the present application is not a limitation on the sampling signal.

[0134] In some embodiments, the N thresholds can be set by the same threshold setting device, such as a digital-analog channel multiplexer. After the setting, the threshold setting device can switch the N thresholds in a preset order, and input the thresholds of different sizes into the comparator in the preset order as needed, so that the comparator can receive the currently switched threshold in real time and compare it with the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse.

[0135] In step 220, the to-be-processed scintillation pulse is compared with the first threshold of the thresholds, and when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the second threshold of the thresholds is switched.

[0136] In some embodiments, comparing the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the thresholds means that the to-be-processed scintillation pulse and the current threshold (such as the Nth threshold) are input into the comparison module at the same time, and the comparison module can compare the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the size of the current threshold.

[0137] In some embodiments, the comparison module can be implemented by a circuit including a low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) comparator. As an example, the to-be-processed scintillation pulse generated by the detector can be input into the p terminal (which can also be referred to as the positive terminal) of the LVDS comparator pin, and the current threshold can be input into the n terminal (which can also be referred to as the negative terminal) of the LVDS comparator pin through the threshold setting device, so as to complete the comparison of the pulse amplitude and the current threshold.

[0138] In some embodiments, the number of comparison modules and threshold setting devices is one, the switching of multiple thresholds is implemented by the same threshold setting device, and the comparison of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with multiple thresholds of different sizes is implemented by the same comparison module. In this way, a single channel can be used to compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with multiple thresholds.

[0139] It can be understood that, generally, for the same threshold value within the range of the maximum amplitude of the scintillation pulse, the scintillation pulse can generally cross the threshold value twice. Once in the rising phase of the scintillation pulse, the amplitude of the scintillation pulse crosses the threshold value from low to high and is higher than the threshold value. Once in the falling phase of the scintillation pulse, the amplitude of the scintillation pulse crosses the threshold value from high to low and is lower than the threshold value. No matter which crossing, the comparison module can generate a jump signal when the crossing occurs, and the jump signal reflects the time point when the amplitude of the scintillation pulse crosses the threshold value. For example Figure 6The principle of multi-voltage threshold sampling is shown in the schematic diagram. In the rising phase, the flicker pulse 610 first crosses and is higher than the threshold voltage 610-1, and then continues to rise, crossing and being higher than the threshold voltage 610-2. Next, it crosses and is higher than the threshold voltage 610-3 and the threshold voltage 610-4. In the falling phase, the flicker pulse 610 first crosses and is lower than the threshold voltage 610-N. Then it continues to fall, crossing and being lower than the threshold voltage 610-N-1. Next, it crosses and is lower than the threshold voltage 610-2 and the threshold voltage 610-1. The entire process of the flicker pulse 610 relative to the above N threshold voltages can occur 2N times of state jumps.

[0140] Those skilled in the art should understand that when the threshold is set to be larger, such as higher than the maximum amplitude of the signal, the amplitude of the flicker pulse can never cross the preset threshold, so the comparison module does not jump; when the threshold is set to be exactly equal to the maximum amplitude of the signal, the comparison module only jumps once. Therefore, generally, those skilled in the art can reasonably set the size and number of thresholds according to limited experiments, so that the size interval of the thresholds is reasonable, and the collected threshold time can more accurately restore the waveform of the flicker pulse. Here, it is not repeated.

[0141] Those skilled in the art should also understand that in actual sampling, the waveform of the flicker pulse is not smooth as shown in Figure 6 , but there are more fluctuations, which are actually fluctuations within the range of the waveforms shown in Figure 6 , and the actual fitted waveform is shown in Figure 6 Therefore, in the actual sampling process, the waveform may cross the same threshold multiple times within a very short time window at the rising edge or the falling edge. In actual sampling, the average jump time point of multiple times of crossing the threshold within a certain time window or time period can be taken as the time of crossing the threshold. This belongs to the easy implementation of those skilled in the art according to the inspiration of the present application, and is not repeated here.

[0142] In some embodiments, the comparison module outputs a jump signal after comparing the to-be-processed flicker pulse with the current threshold. The jump signal can indicate the state change of the to-be-processed flicker pulse relative to the current threshold (for example, from below the threshold to cross and be higher than the threshold or from above the threshold to cross and be lower than the threshold). The time sampling involved in the subsequent part of the present application can refer to the time measurement of the time point corresponding to the state jump. Reference is made to Figure 7 , Figure 7is an exemplary schematic diagram of a jump signal according to some embodiments of the present application. Jump signals 710, 720-2 correspond to the rising edge of a flicker pulse crossing a certain threshold and the falling edge of a flicker pulse crossing a certain threshold, respectively. Jump rising edge 712 corresponds to the moment when the rising edge of a flicker pulse to be processed crosses a threshold, and jump falling edge 722 corresponds to the moment when the falling edge of a flicker pulse to be processed crosses a threshold.

[0143] Step 230, when the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed crosses the second threshold, output a jump signal and switch the next threshold until all N thresholds are compared.

[0144] For any threshold, the comparison principle of the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed and the threshold is the same as in step 220, and reference can be made to the description of step 220, which will not be repeated here.

[0145] It should be noted that the switching of different thresholds is realized by the same threshold setting device. After the comparison of the previous threshold is completed, the comparison module can output a feedback signal to the threshold setting device, which can indicate whether the current threshold has jumped. The feedback signal can be the same as the jump signal, or it can be different. The threshold setting device switches the threshold according to the feedback signal. When the threshold setting device determines that the current threshold has jumped, it immediately switches to the next threshold in the preset order; when the threshold setting device determines that the current threshold has not jumped, it still maintains the setting of the current threshold. For example, in Figure 6 , the largest threshold is 610-N, and the preset order of threshold switching is: first switch from 610-1 to 610-N according to the amplitude of the threshold from small to large. During this stage, whenever the threshold setting device determines that the current threshold has jumped, it immediately switches to the next threshold in the order from small to large; when the largest threshold 610-N is switched and it is determined that the current threshold has jumped twice (once from low to high and once from high to low), it is immediately switched to the next threshold in the order from large to small, until all thresholds are switched.

[0146] Step 240, sequentially sample the jump signal to obtain the threshold-time pairs corresponding to the time when the flicker pulse to be processed crosses each threshold.

[0147] In some embodiments, the sampling can be time-digital sampling of the time corresponding to the rising edge and the falling edge of the jump signal. In this application, the terms "sampling", "time sampling", "time-digital sampling" and "time measurement" can be used interchangeably to represent the operation of determining the time corresponding to the position of the rising edge and the falling edge of the jump signal.

[0148] In some embodiments, the rising edge and the falling edge of the jump signal can be sampled at their corresponding time points by the sampling module in a certain sampling sequence. In some embodiments, the sampling module can be implemented by a circuit including a time-to-digital converter (TDC). The sampling module can sample the time point corresponding to the position of the rising edge or the falling edge of the input jump signal by using the TDC, and determine whether the time point of the rising point of the jump signal or the time point of the falling point of the jump signal should be collected according to the feedback signal generated by the comparison module. In some embodiments, the sampling module sequentially performs first time sampling on the time point corresponding to the rising edge of the first half of the jump signal based on the first sequence, obtains the time information of the rising edge of the pulse signal crossing the threshold, and sequentially performs second time sampling on the time point corresponding to the falling edge of the jump signal based on the second sequence, obtains the time information of the falling edge of the pulse signal crossing the threshold, so as to accurately obtain the threshold-time pair of the pulse signal crossing each threshold. For specific description of time sampling of the jump signal, reference can be made to the part of the description of the present application Figures 7-9 which is not repeated here.

[0149] In some embodiments, the flash pulse threshold-time pair can include the jump time obtained by time sampling of the jump signal and the amplitude of the threshold corresponding to the jump signal. For example, for a threshold V1, comparison with the flash pulse to be processed can obtain a jump signal, and time measurement of the jump signal by the TDC can obtain two time points, including the time point T1 corresponding to the position of the rising edge and the time point T2 corresponding to the position of the falling edge. T1 and T2 can be referred to as jump times, and the flash pulse threshold-time pair can include (V1, T1) and (V1, T2).

[0150] In some embodiments, the flash pulse threshold-target time pair can be transmitted to other components for further processing. For example, the data processing system can transmit the sampling result to the image processing component related to the PET device by wired or wireless communication for subsequent PET image reconstruction.

[0151] It should be noted that the above description of each step in Figure 2 is only for example and illustration, and does not limit the scope of the present specification. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes to each step in Figure 2 under the guidance of the present specification. However, these modifications and changes are still within the scope of the present specification.

[0152] In some special applications, such as gamma photon conversion related applications, a scintillation crystal is used to convert invisible gamma photons into visible light, then a photoelectric conversion device is used to convert the visible light into a scintillation pulse signal, and then a matched sampling method is used to digitize the scintillation pulse signal. At this time, the scintillation pulse has a characteristic that the rising time of the pulse is very short, such as only a few nanoseconds (ns), and the falling time is relatively long, such as more than 100 nanoseconds. Therefore, when the rising edge part is sampled by using the digitization method in the above embodiment, it may not be convenient to switch the threshold value due to the very short rising edge time. Therefore, in the following embodiments, the present application discloses a digitization method of a scintillation pulse, which restores the waveform of the scintillation pulse by sampling only at the falling edge. In this embodiment, the digitization method 300 of the scintillation pulse can include the following operations.

[0153] Step 310, presetting N different threshold values, wherein N is a natural number and N≥2.

[0154] In some embodiments, the threshold value, the setting or the description of the scintillation pulse can be the same as described in the above digitization method 200 of the scintillation pulse, that is, the description of step 210 in method 200 can be applied to step 310, and will not be repeated here.

[0155] Step 330, comparing the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the maximum threshold value in the threshold values, when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the maximum threshold value, outputting a jump signal and switching the next threshold value until the comparison of the N threshold values is completed.

[0156] In some embodiments, the comparison of the scintillation pulse and the threshold value in step 330 can be the same as described in step 220 or step 230, and will not be repeated here.

[0157] It should be noted that, in general, when setting the threshold value, N threshold values are set according to the amplitude interval, and the amplitude of the maximum threshold value does not exceed the maximum amplitude of the flicker pulse signal. In some special waveform applications, such as a flicker pulse with a relatively fast rising edge and a relatively slow falling edge, or a flicker pulse with symmetrical rising and falling edges, the implementation of threshold switching in the rising edge stage is more difficult due to the short time length. Therefore, by step 330, only the falling edge part or half of the symmetrical part is digitized, and the flicker pulse waveform can also be restored by combining the prior information of the flicker pulse. Therefore, in step 330, the initial comparison threshold value is set to the maximum threshold value, and when the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold value, it can be considered that the falling edge stage can be digitized in the order of the threshold value from large to small. At this time, in the falling edge stage, every time the amplitude of the flicker pulse exceeds and is lower than the current threshold value, a jump signal is output, which represents the time point when the flicker pulse exceeds the current threshold value. The description of the jump signal can be referred to in the above steps 220 or 230, and will not be described here. For falling edge sampling, the order is from large to small according to the amplitude of the threshold value.

[0158] Step 340, sequentially sampling the jump signal to obtain the threshold-time pair corresponding to the time when the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds each threshold value.

[0159] In some embodiments, the sampling can be the same as described in the above embodiment 240, and will not be described here.

[0160] It is worth noting that in this embodiment, the flicker pulse threshold-target time pair is usually only located in the falling edge of the flicker pulse, and in order to accurately restore the waveform of the flicker pulse, the waveform needs to be restored in combination with the prior information of the flicker pulse. For example, single pulse data can be pre-acquired and restored according to different applications to obtain prior waveform information of the pulse, and such pulses usually have the same waveform. For example, for the flicker pulse corresponding to the 511 keV gamma photon energy in PET application, the waveform has a relatively fast rising edge and a relatively slow falling edge, and the rising edge is usually about 10 ns. According to the sampling information of the falling edge waveform part and the prior information, the waveform information of the flicker pulse can be accurately restored, and then the time, position, energy and other information can be obtained in the subsequent PET image reconstruction, which will not be described here.

[0161] Further, in order to more accurately determine the starting position of the flicker pulse waveform, another flicker pulse digitization method is disclosed in the following embodiments of the present application, which restores the waveform of the flicker pulse by determining the time point when the flicker pulse waveform starts to rise and sampling in the falling edge. In this embodiment, the flicker pulse digitization method 400 can include the following operations.

[0162] Step 410, presetting N different threshold values, where N is a natural number and N≥2.

[0163] In some embodiments, the threshold value, the setting of the flicker pulse or the description can be the same as the above-mentioned digitalization method 200 of the flicker pulse, that is, the description in method 200 about step 210 can be applied to step 310, which will not be repeated here.

[0164] Step 420, comparing the to-be-processed flicker pulse with the first threshold value in the threshold values, when the amplitude of the to-be-processed flicker pulse exceeds the first threshold value, outputting a jump signal and switching to the maximum threshold value.

[0165] In some embodiments, the first threshold value is usually the one with the smallest amplitude in the threshold values, such as the one with the smallest amplitude being defined as the first threshold value, or the one with the second smallest amplitude being defined as the first threshold value, and the amplitude of the first threshold value is usually greater than the noise amplitude in the sampling process. Therefore, when the to-be-processed waveform exceeds and is higher than the first threshold value, it can be considered that the to-be-processed waveform is in the rising stage. And because the value of the first threshold value is low, not only the waveform of the effective flicker pulse, but also the waveform of some noise signals can exceed and be higher than the first threshold value. Referring to Figure 6 , Figure 6 is an exemplary relationship diagram of the threshold value and the to-be-processed waveform according to some embodiments of the present application. As Figure 6 shown, the to-be-processed waveform can include an effective flicker pulse 610 and a noise signal 620. The maximum amplitude of the noise signal 620 cannot exceed and be higher than the first threshold value 610-1. For the subsequent processing steps, the flicker pulse 610 exceeding and being higher than the first threshold value 610-1 is an effective trigger.

[0166] Further, in some embodiments, if the first threshold value is set too large, some signals can be missed, and if the first threshold value is set too small, more noise signals can cause false triggering. In order to balance between the accuracy of signal sampling and the false triggering caused by noise signals or other signals, the method of jointly determining the first threshold value and the second threshold value can be used in step 420, that is, on the basis of the smaller first threshold value, a second threshold value larger than the first threshold value is introduced, and the effective trigger of the rising edge of the to-be-processed flicker pulse signal is triggered by both the first threshold value and the second threshold value. The comparison principle of the second threshold value and the first threshold value is exactly the same, which will not be repeated here.

[0167] The specific values ​​of the first and second thresholds can be obtained by those skilled in the art through a limited number of experiments based on the specific differences in the signals to be sampled, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application. For example, in some embodiments, the second threshold can be greater than the first threshold. In some embodiments, the second threshold can be much larger than the first threshold. Based on the amplitude of the first threshold, the difference between the second threshold and the first threshold can be no less than 100mV. For example, the first threshold voltage can be 5mV, and the second threshold voltage can be 105mV. (Continue to refer to...) Figure 6 If the waveform to be processed is a valid flashing pulse, such as flashing pulse 610, then the rising phase of the valid flashing pulse will exceed the second threshold 610-2.

[0168] Once the signal is determined to be a valid trigger, the threshold is switched to the maximum threshold, thereby completing the sampling of the falling edge portion of the flicker pulse waveform to be processed in subsequent steps.

[0169] Step 430: When the amplitude of the flashing pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, output a jump signal and switch other thresholds or the next threshold in sequence until all N thresholds have been compared.

[0170] In some embodiments, the comparison between the flashing pulse and the threshold in step 430 can be the same as that in step 330, and will not be repeated here.

[0171] It should be noted that, typically, when setting thresholds, N thresholds are set at intervals according to amplitude, with the amplitude of the largest threshold not exceeding the maximum amplitude of the flicker pulse signal. In certain special waveform applications, such as PET signals, which usually have relatively fast rising edges and relatively slow falling edges, the rising edge phase, due to its short duration, is only used to determine the effective pulse signal trigger. Step 430 digitizes only the falling edge portion, and combined with the prior information of the flicker pulse, the pulse waveform can be reconstructed. Therefore, in step 430, when the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, it can be considered that the digitization sampling of the falling edge phase can begin in descending order of threshold values. At this time, in the falling edge phase, whenever the amplitude of the flicker pulse exceeds and falls below the current threshold, a transition signal is output. This transition signal represents the time point at which the flicker pulse exceeds the current threshold. A detailed description of the transition signal can be found in step 230 above, and will not be repeated here. For falling edge sampling, the order is the descending order of threshold amplitude values.

[0172] Step 440: Sample the transition signal sequentially to obtain the threshold-time pairs corresponding to each threshold when the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold.

[0173] In some embodiments, the sampling can be the same as described in embodiment 340 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0174] It is worth noting that in this embodiment, in addition to the falling edge of the scintillation pulse, the scintillation pulse threshold-target time pair also maintains the time points corresponding to the first threshold and / or the second threshold, in combination with the prior information of the scintillation pulse and the starting point information of the first threshold and / or the second threshold, the sampling data of the falling edge, the waveform of the scintillation pulse can be restored more accurately, and then in the subsequent image reconstruction, the time, position, energy and other information can be obtained, which will not be repeated here.

[0175] Further, in actual sampling applications, a considerable number of scintillation pulse signals often appear in the form of symmetric signals, such as triangular waves, sine waves, etc. For such waveforms, only the information of the rising stage or the falling stage is often needed to accurately restore the waveform of the scintillation pulse in combination with the prior information. Therefore, the present application also discloses another scintillation pulse digitization method, which restores the waveform of the scintillation pulse by only collecting half of the waveform signal in combination with the prior information. In this embodiment, the scintillation pulse digitization method 500 can further include the following operations.

[0176] Step 510, presetting N different threshold values, wherein N is a natural number and N≥2.

[0177] In some embodiments, the threshold, the setting or the description of the scintillation pulse can be the same as described in the scintillation pulse digitization method 400 above, i.e. the description of step 410 in method 400 can be applicable to step 510, which will not be repeated here.

[0178] Step 520, comparing the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the first threshold value in the threshold value, when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the first threshold value, outputting a jump signal and sequentially switching to the next threshold value.

[0179] In some embodiments, the setting or the description of the first threshold value can be the same as described in the scintillation pulse digitization method 400 above, i.e. the description of step 420 in method 400 can be applicable to step 520, which will not be repeated here.

[0180] Further, in some embodiments, if the first threshold is set too large, some signals can be missed, and if the first threshold is set too small, noise signals can cause false triggering. In order to balance the signal sampling accuracy and false triggering caused by noise signals or other signals, a method of jointly determining the first threshold and the second threshold can be used in step 420, that is, a second threshold larger than the first threshold is introduced on the basis of the smaller first threshold, and the effective trigger of the rising edge of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse signal is determined by both the first threshold and the second threshold. The comparison principle of the second threshold and the first threshold is completely the same, and will not be repeated here. In some embodiments, the setting or description of the second threshold can be the same as described in the scintillation pulse digitization method 400, that is, the description of step 420 in method 400 can be applied to step 520, and will not be repeated here.

[0181] After the signal is determined to be an effective trigger, the threshold is switched to the next threshold in a preset order, such as sequentially in the order from small to large, so as to complete the sampling of the rising edge part of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse waveform in the subsequent steps.

[0182] Step 530, when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the maximum threshold, output a jump signal, and the comparison is completed.

[0183] In some embodiments, the comparison of the scintillation pulse and the threshold in step 530 can be the same as the comparison method described in any of the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0184] It should be noted that the effective pulse signal trigger can be determined by the above step S520, and the rising edge part is further digitized by step 530, and the pulse waveform can be restored by combining the prior information of the scintillation pulse (such as the symmetrical waveform). Therefore, in step 530, when the amplitude of the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds the maximum threshold, it can be considered that the threshold comparison is completed.

[0185] Step 540, sequentially sampling the jump signal to obtain the threshold-time pair corresponding to the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeding each threshold in combination with the prior information.

[0186] In some embodiments, the sampling can be the same as described in any of the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here. In this embodiment, the waveform in the falling edge stage is considered to be symmetrical with the rising edge part when reconstructed, so that the number of sampling points can be reduced under the premise of ensuring the sampling accuracy, and the sampling rate and reconstruction speed can be improved.

[0187] Reference Figure 7 , Figure 7is an exemplary schematic diagram of a jump signal according to some embodiments of the present application. The jump signal 710 can be the output signal of a comparator when a flicker pulse crosses a threshold from bottom to top. The rising edge 712 can correspond to the time when the flicker pulse crosses the threshold from bottom to top. The jump signal 720 can be the output signal of a comparator when a flicker pulse crosses a threshold from top to bottom. The falling edge 722 can correspond to the time when the flicker pulse crosses the threshold from top to bottom. Based on this, a time-to-digital converter can perform time measurement on the jump signal and / or identify the rising edge or falling edge time, and obtain the time when the waveform to be processed crosses each threshold. The time is combined with the corresponding threshold to form a threshold-time pair for subsequent data processing.

[0188] Figure 8 is an exemplary relationship schematic diagram of thresholds, a waveform to be processed, and a jump signal according to some embodiments of the present application, which can be referred to the method 400 of digitizing a flicker pulse described above. As shown in Figure 8 , the waveform to be processed 810 can be first sampled for a rising edge, that is, the waveform to be processed 810 can be first compared with the threshold V1. When it is determined that the waveform to be processed 810 crosses and is higher than the threshold V1, it can be selectively compared with the threshold V2 to determine whether the waveform to be processed 810 is a valid flicker pulse or noise. This can be used to eliminate false trigger signals and obtain a valid rising edge start point. When it is determined that the waveform to be processed 810 is a valid flicker pulse, the waveform to be processed 810 can be compared with the maximum threshold V8. After successful time sampling, the waveform to be processed 810 can be compared with the threshold V7. In this way, the comparison with the threshold V1 and the time sampling are completed. The comparator can output the comparison result between the waveform to be processed 810 and the threshold, such as the jump signal 820 shown in Figure 8 . The jump signal 820 has a plurality of rising edges and falling edges. The rising edge 821’ can indicate that the waveform to be processed 810 crosses and is higher than the threshold V1. The falling edge 828 can indicate that the waveform to be processed 810 crosses and is lower than the threshold V8. The falling edge 827 can indicate that the waveform to be processed 810 crosses and is lower than the threshold V7. In this way, the falling edge 821 can indicate that the waveform to be processed 810 crosses and is lower than the threshold V1. The time corresponding to each rising edge or falling edge is the time when the waveform to be processed 810 jumps (for example, crosses the threshold from top to bottom or from bottom to top). The TDC can perform time measurement on the jump signal to obtain the time information of each time.

[0189] Figure 9 is an exemplary relationship schematic diagram of thresholds, a waveform to be processed, and a jump signal according to some embodiments of the present application, which can be referred to the method 200 of digitizing a flicker pulse described above. As shown in Figure 9As shown, the to-be-processed waveform 910 can first be sampled at the rising edge, that is, the to-be-processed waveform 910 can first be compared with the threshold V1. When it is determined that the to-be-processed waveform 910 crosses and is higher than the threshold V1, the threshold can be directly switched to V2, and then compared with the threshold V2. By analogy, until the comparison of the last threshold V4 is completed. The comparator can output the comparison result between the to-be-processed waveform 910 and the threshold, such as the jump signal 920 shown in FIG. 10B. Figure 9 As shown in FIG. 10B, the jump signal 920 has a plurality of rising edges and falling edges. The rising edge 921 can indicate that the to-be-processed waveform 910 crosses and is higher than the threshold V1. The rising edge 922 can indicate that the to-be-processed waveform 910 crosses and is higher than the threshold V2. The rising edge 923 can indicate that the to-be-processed waveform 910 crosses and is higher than the threshold V3. The rising edge 924 can indicate that the to-be-processed waveform 910 crosses and is higher than the threshold V4. Since the flicker pulse 910 is a symmetric signal, only the rising edge part thereof can be sampled, and the complete waveform information can be obtained in combination with prior information. If the waveform of the falling edge of the flicker pulse 910 is a fast falling edge, the complete waveform information thereof can be predicted in combination with prior information. Those skilled in the art can freely combine and apply the above method according to the description, and details are not repeated here.

[0190] The digitalization method of the flicker pulse disclosed in the present application can greatly reduce the number of input pins of the data processing chip and the number of time-to-digital conversion modules by using the threshold switching method, not only can ensure and even improve the signal sampling accuracy, but also can greatly reduce the dependence on high-performance data processing chips and time-to-digital conversion modules, and can be realized by ordinary chips, which is conducive to improving the data processing speed and greatly reducing the cost.

[0191] Figure 10 FIG. 10A is an exemplary block diagram of a flicker pulse digitalization device according to some embodiments of the present application. The data acquisition system in the digitalization device can realize high-performance sampling of the flicker pulse waveform. As shown in FIG. 10B, Figure 10 The data acquisition system 1000 can include an acquisition module 1010, a threshold switching module 1020, a comparison module 1030, and a sampling module 1040.

[0192] The acquisition module 1010 can acquire to-be-processed flicker pulse information. The to-be-processed flicker pulse can be acquired by a detector, such as a PET detector, a CT detector, a neutron detector, or an oil detector. The acquisition module communicates with the detector to acquire the to-be-processed flicker pulse.

[0193] The threshold switching module 1020 can obtain a plurality of threshold values and switch to one of the threshold values in sequence and send to the comparison module 1030. The plurality of threshold values can be set according to the steps 210, 310, 410, 510 described in the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here. The threshold switching module 1020 can implement the switching of any threshold value in the above method embodiments.

[0194] The comparison module 1030 can compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the current threshold value switched by the threshold switching module 1020. When the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds and is higher than the current threshold value, a jump signal is output, and the threshold switching module 1020 switches to the next threshold value, and the comparison is continued by the comparison module 1030. The comparison of the waveform and the description of the jump signal can be referred to the description in any of the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here. The comparison module 1030 can be implemented by a circuit including a low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) comparator. Correspondingly, the to-be-processed scintillation pulse can be input to the p terminal of the LVDS pin, and the current threshold value of the threshold switching module can be input to the n terminal of the LVDS pin, so as to complete the comparison between the scintillation pulse and the current threshold value.

[0195] The sampling module 1040 can obtain the jump signal in sequence and sample the time of the jump signal, so as to output the corresponding threshold-time pair data. The sampling module 1040 can refer to the description of sampling in the above method embodiments. In some embodiments, the sampling module 1040 can have a circuit including a time-to-digital converter (TDC). In some embodiments, the sampling module 1040 can use the LVDS comparator to implement the comparison between the to-be-processed scintillation pulse and the current threshold value and obtain the jump signal, and use the TDC to implement the time sampling of the jump signal.

[0196] In some embodiments, the threshold switching module 1020 can switch the threshold value according to a certain sequence, the comparison module 1030 can perform the comparison operation according to the sequence, and the sampling module 1040 can also obtain the time point of the rising edge or the falling edge of the jump signal corresponding to the current threshold value according to the sequence, and complete the sampling.

[0197] Figure 11 is an exemplary module diagram of a scintillation pulse digitizing device according to some embodiments of the present application. The data acquisition system in the digitizing device can implement high-performance scintillation pulse waveform sampling. As shown in Figure 11 The data acquisition system 1100 can include an obtaining module 1110, a threshold switching module 1120, a comparison module 1130, a sampling module 1040, and a control module 1150.

[0198] The acquisition module 1110 can acquire the to-be-processed scintillation pulse information.

[0199] The threshold switching module 1120 can acquire a plurality of thresholds and switch to one of the thresholds in sequence and send to the comparison module 1130. The plurality of thresholds can be set as described in steps 210, 310, 410, and 510 of the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here. The threshold switching module 1120 can implement the switching of any threshold in the above method embodiments.

[0200] The comparison module 1130 can compare the to-be-processed scintillation pulse with the current threshold switched by the threshold switching module 1120. When the to-be-processed scintillation pulse exceeds and is higher than the current threshold, a jump signal is output, and the threshold switching module 1120 switches to the next threshold, and the comparison module 1130 continues to compare. The comparison of the waveform and the description of the jump signal can be referred to the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here. It is worth noting that in this embodiment, the comparison module 1130 can output a state signal at the same time after completing the comparison. The state signal is used to indicate whether the comparison of the current threshold is completed.

[0201] The control module 1150 can receive the state signal generated by the comparison module 1130 and control the threshold switching module 1120 to switch to the next threshold. The sequence mentioned in the above embodiments can also be preset by the control module 1150. The control module 1150 judges the completion of the comparison of the current threshold according to the state signal, and immediately instructs the threshold switching module 1120 to switch to the next threshold according to the preset sequence.

[0202] The sampling module 1140 can sequentially acquire the jump signal and / or the state signal and sample the time of the jump signal, thereby outputting the corresponding threshold-time pair data. The sampling module 1140 can refer to the sampling description in the above method embodiments. In some embodiments, the comparison module 1130 will send the jump signal and the state signal to the sampling module at the same time after completing the comparison operation. The sampling module 1140 determines the time point of the rising edge or the falling edge of the jump signal corresponding to the current threshold according to the indication of the state signal, and completes the sampling. In some embodiments, the jump signal can synchronously include the state signal, that is, according to the jump signal, the time point of the rising edge or the falling edge of the jump signal should be collected, which will not be repeated here.

[0203] In some embodiments, the sampling result of the time sampling can be transmitted to other components for further processing. For example, in Figure 11In the embodiment shown, the data acquisition system 1100 can be further connected with a data sending module 2100 and an image reconstruction module 3100, wherein the data sending module 2100 is used to package the threshold-time pair data finally formed by the data acquisition system 1100, and the sampling result can be sent to the image reconstruction module 3100 through wired or wireless communication mode, the image reconstruction module 3100 calculates, restores and completes subsequent image reconstruction according to the preset algorithm, which is easy to complete by the person skilled in the art according to the inspiration of the present application, and will not be described here.

[0204] It should be noted that the above description of each step in the drawings is only for example and illustration, and does not limit the scope of application. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes to each step in the related drawings under the guidance of the present application. However, these modifications and changes are still within the scope of the present application.

[0205] For other descriptions of the above modules, reference can be made to other parts of the present application, for example, Figures 2-9 .

[0206] The scintillation pulse digitizing device disclosed in the present application can greatly reduce the number of input pins of the data processing chip and the number of time-to-digital conversion modules by using threshold switching, such as a single FPGA chip, which can not only ensure or even improve the signal sampling accuracy, but also greatly reduce the dependence on high-performance data processing chips and time-to-digital conversion modules, and can be realized by ordinary chips, which is conducive to improving the data processing speed and greatly reducing the cost.

[0207] It should be understood that, Figures 10-11The system and its modules shown can be implemented in various ways. For example, in some embodiments, the system and its modules can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware. The hardware portion can be implemented with special logic, while the software portion can be stored in memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system, such as a microprocessor or dedicated design hardware. Those skilled in the art can understand that the above-mentioned method and system can be implemented using computer executable instructions and / or contained in processor control code, such as provided on a carrier medium, such as a disk, CD or DVD-ROM, programmable memory, such as read-only memory (firmware), or data carrier, such as optical or electronic signal carrier. The system and its modules of the present application can not only be implemented by hardware circuit, such as very large scale integrated circuit or gate array, semiconductor, such as logic chip, transistor, or programmable hardware device, such as field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, but also by software, for example, executed by various types of processors, and also by a combination of the above-mentioned hardware circuit and software (for example, firmware).

[0208] It should be noted that the above description of the modules is for the convenience of description and cannot limit the application to the scope of the embodiments. It can be understood that, for those skilled in the art, after understanding the principle of the system, the modules can be combined or connected with other modules to form a subsystem without departing from the principle. For example, the data acquisition module and the threshold switching module can be the same comparison module. For another example, the sampling module can include the comparison module at the same time. For another example, the modules can share a storage module, and each module can have its own storage module. Such variations are within the scope of the present application.

[0209] Figure 12 is an exemplary functional block diagram of a digitizer of a scintillation pulse according to some embodiments of the present application. The digitizer can be implemented based on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip, which is used to implement Figures 2-5 a method of digitizing a scintillation pulse as shown. As Figure 12As shown, Sp can be an inputted scintillation pulse to be processed, TV can be a threshold switching module to output different threshold values. C can be an LVDS comparator to implement the comparison between the threshold value and the scintillation pulse to be processed. In the present application, the comparison module can be implemented by C. C can output a comparison result and / or a feedback output. The comparison result can be a jump signal, and the feedback output can indicate whether the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses the threshold value from top to bottom or from bottom to top. For example, 1 indicates that the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses the threshold value from top to bottom, and 0 indicates the opposite. The comparison result can be inputted to a TDC (time-to-digital converter) for time measurement. In the present application, part of the function of the sampling module can be implemented by the TDC. The feedback output can be inputted to a TCM (threshold control module) to implement the adjustment control of the threshold value. For example, the TDC measures the time when the scintillation pulse to be processed crosses the threshold value from top to bottom, the feedback output is 1, and the TCM can control TV to transmit another threshold value to C for the comparison between the scintillation pulse to be processed and the new threshold value in the next time. In the present application, the threshold adjustment module can be implemented by the TCM and TV. DCM is a data transmission module. The measurement result of the TDC after completing the time measurement can be transmitted to the DCM. The DCM can transmit the measurement result to subsequent processing components for image reconstruction.

[0210] Figure 13 is an exemplary functional block diagram of a scintillation pulse digitization device according to some embodiments of the present application, which can be used to implement Figure 2 is a scintillation pulse digitization method according to some embodiments of the present application, wherein Sp can be an inputted scintillation pulse to be processed, TV can be a threshold switching module to output different threshold values. C can be an LVDS comparator to implement the comparison between the threshold value and the scintillation pulse to be processed. In the present application, the comparison module can be implemented by C. C can output a comparison result. The comparison result can be a jump signal. The comparison result can be inputted to a TDC (time-to-digital converter) for time measurement. In the present application, the function of the sampling module can be implemented by the TDC. DCM is a data transmission module. The measurement result of the TDC after completing the time measurement can be transmitted to the DCM. The DCM can transmit the measurement result to subsequent processing components for image reconstruction.

[0211] The scintillation pulse digitization device disclosed in the present application can greatly reduce the number of input pins of the data processing chip and the number of time-to-digital conversion modules by using threshold switching, which can be implemented by a single FPGA chip. The signal sampling precision can be ensured or even improved, the dependence on high-performance data processing chips and time-to-digital conversion modules can be greatly reduced, and the data processing rate in the later stage can be improved, and the cost can be greatly reduced.

[0212] Figure 14is an exemplary functional block diagram of a digitizing device for a scintillation pulse according to some embodiments of the present application. In Figure 14 some embodiments, the digitizing device can be based on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip, and can be implemented in a multi-channel parallel manner. Specifically, as shown in Figure 14 , Sp can be an inputted waveform to be processed, and two parallel comparators C1 and C2 can be inputted; TV1 and TV2 can be two parallel threshold switching modules to output different threshold values, such as two sets of identical threshold values, or TV1 outputs a rising edge threshold value and TV2 outputs a falling edge threshold value; C1 and C2 can be LVDS comparators to compare the current threshold value of the corresponding channel with the scintillation pulse to be processed; TCM1 and TCM2 are two sets of parallel threshold control modules to sequentially instruct TV1 and TV2 to switch the threshold values according to the state signals outputted by C1 and C2, respectively; the same TDC is connected to the two comparators C1 and C2 to collect the jump signals outputted by the two comparators, respectively. In this embodiment, the functions of the comparison module, the jump signal state signal, and the sampling module can be the same as those described in any of the above embodiments. DCM is a data transmission module. When the TDC completes the time measurement, the measurement result can be transmitted to the DCM. The DCM can transmit the measurement result to a subsequent processing component for image reconstruction.

[0213] Through this embodiment, more data points of the rising edge and / or the falling edge can be collected, and the more data points, the more accurate the restored waveform, which means that the time resolution and the energy resolution are better. Meanwhile, the number of channels and pins is saved in this scheme, which is more intensive, has higher accuracy, and has higher data processing efficiency compared with the traditional sampling method.

[0214] In some embodiments, the present application also provides a digitizing device, which can include the digitizing device mentioned in the above embodiments, and the digitizing device can be used to collect corresponding scintillation pulse data and perform image reconstruction. In a specific example, the digitizing device for a scintillation pulse provided by the present application can be applied to a positron emission computed tomography (PET), and in a PET system, gamma photon data can be collected by using the scheme according to the embodiments of the present application and then image reconstruction is performed. In other specific examples of the present application, the digitizing method and device for a scintillation pulse, the detector, the electronic device, and the storage medium provided by the present application can be applied to a variety of digitizing devices, such as a CT device, an MRI device, a radiation detection device, a petroleum detection device, a weak light detection device, an SPET device, a security inspection device, a gamma camera, an X-ray device, a DR device, and other devices utilizing high-energy ray conversion principle, and other photoelectric conversion application devices.

[0215] Although not shown, in some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium is also provided, which stores a computer program configured to be executed when run, to perform the method of any of the embodiments of the present application. The computer program comprises various program modules / units constituting the apparatus according to the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program executed by the various program modules / units is capable of realizing the functions corresponding to the various steps in the method described in the above embodiments. The computer program can also be run on the electronic device as described in the embodiments of the present application.

[0216] The basic concepts have been described herein, and it is obvious that the above detailed disclosure is only as an example, and does not constitute a limitation on the present application. Although not explicitly stated herein, those skilled in the art can make various modifications, improvements and corrections to the present application. Such modifications, improvements and corrections are suggested in the present application, so such modifications, improvements and corrections still belong to the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

[0217] Meanwhile, specific words are used in the present application to describe the embodiments of the present application. As "one embodiment", "an embodiment", and / or "some embodiments" means a certain feature, structure or characteristic related to at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it should be emphasized and noted that the "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "one alternative embodiment" mentioned in different places in the present application does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, some features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the present application can be properly combined.

[0218] In addition, those skilled in the art can understand that aspects of the present application can be described and claimed in a number of patentable aspects or claims, including any new and useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture or compositions of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof. Accordingly, the various aspects of the present application can be performed entirely by hardware, entirely by software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or by a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software can be referred to as "data blocks", "modules", "engines", "units", "components" or "systems". In addition, aspects of the present application can be manifested as computer products located in one or more computer readable media, which include computer readable program codes.

[0219] Computer storage media can include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program code, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, solid state drives (SSDs) that use NAND or NOR logic, flash memory or other memory technology, cassettes, tape, magnetic or optical disks, memory cards, digital video disks (DVDs), or other storage media. Computer storage media does not include communication media, which includes media that facilitates travel of a computer program from one place to another, such as a carrier wave that is part of a modem or other wireless transmission.

[0220] Computer program code for carrying out operations of various aspects of the present application can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.NET, Python, or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer can be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection can be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic program code can be downloaded from an on-demand computing platform, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform, or other on-demand computing platforms. In some embodiments, electronic program code can be downloaded from a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, such as Salesforce, or other SaaS platforms.

[0221] In addition, the order of execution or sequence of any of the processes depicted, including that of the described embodiments, can not be restricted to the order set forth in this disclosure, but can be implemented in any order practical. Further, some steps can be performed in parallel rather than sequentially. Moreover, the integration of elements, modules, or components from the various embodiments of the present application into other embodiments and applications as well as a combination of some embodiments and applications is explicitly contemplated. Furthermore, elements of embodiments of the present application can be added to, or removed from, other embodiments of the present application. For example, although described above as a system, the described embodiments can be implemented in software, on existing servers or mobile devices, or a combination thereof. Additionally, the use of some of the features of the present application when other like features are used is explicitly contemplated. For example, where the use of a feature is described above, it is explicitly contemplated that the use of the same feature in other embodiments of the application is also contemplated.

[0222] For simplicity and to facilitate understanding of one or more embodiments of the application, a description of an embodiment of the application is sometimes divided into multiple parts, each part being disclosed in a separate section of the specification. Such division into sections and disclosure of an embodiment of the application in separate sections is not meant to indicate that the features disclosed in one section cannot be used in other sections. Indeed, features disclosed in one section can be used in combination with features disclosed in other sections in any appropriate manner. Thus, the disclosure of an embodiment of the application in a separate section should not be interpreted as a limitation on the features disclosed in that section.

[0223] Some embodiments use numerical values to describe components, quantities of attributes. It should be understood that such numerical values used in the description of embodiments are, in some examples, modified by the adjectives "about," "approximately," or "substantially." Unless otherwise stated, "about," "approximately," or "substantially" indicate that the described value allows for a variation of ±20%. Accordingly, numerical parameters such as those outlined in the specification and claims are approximations, and as such, vary depending upon the equipment, the individual embodiments, and the desired properties described herein. In some embodiments, numerical parameters are approximations that can vary depending on the desired properties set forth in the specification and claims. In some embodiments, numerical parameters should be considered in the context of the number of significant digits used for measurement and the acceptable error for the measurement at hand. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the application are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. The application is not limited to the specific numerical values set forth in the examples.

[0224] Each patent, patent application, patent publication, and other material, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, and the like, referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for the teachings relevant to the sentence and / or paragraph in which the reference is made. Discrepancies between document files, if any, are subject to prevailing principles of law, including the doctrine of the incorporation by reference; the doctrine of equivalents; and the like. In the event of inconsistencies between the disclosure of the application and the references incorporated by reference, the disclosure of the application shall prevail. It is specifically noted that the description, definitions, and / or terminology used in the incorporated material shall not be construed to be inconsistent with the description, definitions, and / or terminology used in the disclosure of the application.

[0225] Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary of the application. Other variations of the embodiments can also be possible and are within the scope of the application. Thus, the alternative configurations of the embodiments of the application, as exemplified but not limited by the explicit teachings and descriptions of the embodiments, are considered within the scope of the application. Accordingly, the embodiments of the application are not limited to the explicit embodiments described and illustrated herein.

Claims

1. A method for digitizing scintillation pulses, characterized in that, The digitization method includes: Multiple preset thresholds; The process compares the flicker pulse to be processed with a first threshold among a plurality of thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a transition signal is output and the next threshold is switched, until all the thresholds have been compared. The transition signals are sampled sequentially to obtain the threshold-time pairs corresponding to when the flicker pulse to be processed crosses each threshold.

2. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The threshold is set by a threshold setting device.

3. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thresholds include voltage threshold, current threshold, energy threshold, and sound intensity threshold.

4. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The threshold value is set to not exceed the maximum amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed.

5. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of thresholds is set to 2-8.

6. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, Comparing the flicker pulse to be processed with the threshold includes: The comparison module compares the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed with the current threshold value.

7. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 6, characterized in that, The multiple thresholds are set through the same threshold setting device, and the comparison is implemented through the same comparison module.

8. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an indication that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the rising edge of the threshold or the falling edge of the threshold.

9. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an average rising edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window, or an average falling edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window.

10. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The comparison between the first threshold and the other thresholds is performed at the rising and falling edges of the flash pulse to be processed, respectively.

11. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thresholds mentioned in some cases are switched in descending order.

12. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transition signal is sampled sequentially, including: The rising or falling edge of the transition signal is obtained in a preset order.

13. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 12, characterized in that, The preset order includes a first order determined from smallest to largest based on a portion of the threshold values ​​and a second order determined from largest to smallest based on a portion of the threshold values.

14. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sampling is implemented by a circuit including a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially performs time sampling on all the transition signals.

15. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transition signal includes a status signal for indicating the threshold switching, and the next threshold is switched according to the status signal.

16. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 1, characterized in that, The threshold-time pair includes the transition time obtained by time sampling of the transition signal and the corresponding threshold.

17. A method for digitizing scintillation pulses, characterized in that, The digitization method includes: Multiple preset thresholds; The flash pulse to be processed is compared with the maximum threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flash pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched, until all the multiple thresholds have been compared. The transition signals are sampled sequentially to obtain the threshold-time pairs corresponding to when the flicker pulse to be processed crosses each threshold.

18. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The threshold is set by a threshold setting device.

19. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The thresholds include voltage threshold, current threshold, energy threshold, and sound intensity threshold.

20. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The threshold value is set to not exceed the maximum amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed.

21. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The number of thresholds is set to 2-8.

22. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to any one of claims 17 to 21, characterized in that, Comparing the flicker pulse to be processed with the threshold includes: The comparison module compares the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed with the current threshold value.

23. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 22, characterized in that, The multiple thresholds are set through the same threshold setting device, and the comparison is implemented through the same comparison module.

24. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an indication that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the rising edge of the threshold or the falling edge of the threshold.

25. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an average rising edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window, or an average falling edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window.

26. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The comparison of the multiple thresholds is performed at the rising or falling edge of the flicker pulse to be processed.

27. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The thresholds are switched in descending order.

28. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The transition signal is sampled sequentially, including: The rising or falling edge of the transition signal is obtained in a preset order.

29. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The sampling is achieved by a circuit including a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially samples the transition signal at different times.

30. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The transition signal includes a status signal for indicating the threshold switching, and the next threshold is switched according to the status signal.

31. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 17, characterized in that, The threshold-time pair includes the transition time obtained by time sampling of the transition signal and the corresponding threshold.

32. A method for digitizing scintillation pulses, characterized in that, The digitization method includes: Multiple preset thresholds; The flicker pulse to be processed is compared with the first threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the signal is switched to the maximum threshold. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched in sequence until all the multiple thresholds are compared. The transition signals are sampled sequentially to obtain the threshold-time pairs corresponding to when the flicker pulse to be processed crosses each threshold.

33. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The threshold is set by a threshold setting device.

34. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The thresholds include voltage threshold, current threshold, energy threshold, and sound intensity threshold.

35. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The threshold value is set to not exceed the maximum amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed.

36. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The number of thresholds is set to 2-8.

37. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to any one of claims 32 to 36, characterized in that, Comparing the flicker pulse to be processed with the threshold includes: The comparison module compares the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed with the current threshold value.

38. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 37, characterized in that, The multiple thresholds are set through the same threshold setting device, and the comparison is implemented through the same comparison module.

39. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an indication that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the rising edge of the threshold or the falling edge of the threshold.

40. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an average rising edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window, or an average falling edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window.

41. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The comparison of the first threshold is completed at the rising edge of the flash pulse to be processed, and the comparison of the other thresholds is completed at the falling edge of the flash pulse to be processed.

42. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 41, characterized in that, The digitization method also includes: After the first threshold comparison is completed, the flashing pulse to be processed is compared with the second threshold among the thresholds. If the amplitude of the second threshold is greater than the first threshold, when the amplitude of the flashing pulse to be processed exceeds the second threshold, it is determined to be a valid trigger, and the maximum threshold is switched.

43. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, Except for the first threshold, the other thresholds are switched in descending order.

44. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The transition signal is sampled sequentially, including: The rising or falling edge of the transition signal is obtained in a preset order.

45. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The sampling is achieved by a circuit including a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially samples the transition signal at different times.

46. ​​The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The transition signal includes a status signal for indicating the threshold switching, and the next threshold is switched according to the status signal.

47. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 32, characterized in that, The threshold-time pair includes the transition time obtained by time sampling of the transition signal and the corresponding threshold.

48. A method for digitizing scintillation pulses, characterized in that, The digitization method includes: Multiple preset thresholds; The flicker pulse to be processed is compared with the first threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the signal is switched to the next threshold in sequence. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a jump signal is output, and the comparison is completed; The transition signals are sampled sequentially, and the threshold-time pairs corresponding to the flash pulses to be processed crossing each threshold are obtained by combining prior information.

49. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The threshold is set by a threshold setting device.

50. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The thresholds include voltage threshold, current threshold, energy threshold, and sound intensity threshold.

51. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The threshold value is set to not exceed the maximum amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed.

52. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The number of thresholds is set to 2-8.

53. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to any one of claims 48 to 52, characterized in that, Comparing the flicker pulse to be processed with the threshold includes: The comparison module compares the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed with the current threshold value.

54. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 53, characterized in that, The multiple thresholds are set through the same threshold setting device, and the comparison is implemented through the same comparison module.

55. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an indication that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the rising edge of the threshold or the falling edge of the threshold.

56. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The transition signal includes an average rising edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window, or an average falling edge transition indicating that the flash pulse to be processed crosses the threshold multiple times within the same time window.

57. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The comparison of the multiple thresholds is performed at the rising or falling edge of the flicker pulse to be processed.

58. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The digitization method also includes: After the first threshold comparison is completed, the flashing pulse to be processed is compared with the second threshold among the thresholds. If the amplitude of the second threshold is greater than the first threshold, when the amplitude of the flashing pulse to be processed exceeds the second threshold, it is determined to be a valid trigger, and the next threshold is switched.

59. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The multiple thresholds are switched in ascending order.

60. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The transition signal is sampled sequentially, including: The rising or falling edge of the transition signal is obtained in a preset order.

61. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The sampling is achieved by a circuit including a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially samples the transition signal at different times.

62. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The transition signal includes a status signal for indicating the threshold switching, and the next threshold is switched according to the status signal.

63. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The prior information is the shape of the flash pulse to be processed, and the prior information is obtained through prior experiments.

64. The method for digitizing scintillation pulses according to claim 48, characterized in that, The threshold-time pair includes the transition time obtained by time sampling of the transition signal and the corresponding threshold.

65. A digitizing device for scintillation pulses, characterized in that, The digitization device includes: The acquisition module is used to acquire the flashing pulses to be processed; The threshold switching module is used to switch between multiple preset thresholds; The comparison module is used to compare the flashing pulse to be processed with the current threshold. When the flashing pulse to be processed crosses the current threshold, it outputs a transition signal. The sampling module is used to sequentially sample the transition signal over time to obtain the corresponding flicker pulse threshold-time pair.

66. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The threshold switching module includes a digital-to-analog converter, which is used to preset multiple thresholds.

67. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The threshold switching module is used for: When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

68. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The threshold switching module is used for: The next threshold is switched according to the status signal used to indicate the threshold switching, until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

69. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The comparison module includes a comparator, which compares the flicker pulse to be processed with the current threshold.

70. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The flicker pulse to be processed is compared with a first threshold among the plurality of thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched, until all the thresholds have been compared.

71. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The flash pulse to be processed is compared with the maximum threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flash pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched, until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

72. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The flicker pulse to be processed is compared with the first threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the signal is switched to the maximum threshold. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched in sequence until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

73. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The process compares the flicker pulse to be processed with the first threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a transition signal is output and the process switches to the next threshold sequentially. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a transition signal is output, and the comparison is completed.

74. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The sampling module includes a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially performs time sampling on the transition signal.

75. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The digitization device also includes a control module, which receives a status signal generated by the comparison module and controls the threshold switching module to switch to the next threshold.

76. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The flicker pulse threshold-time pair includes the transition time obtained by time sampling of the transition signal and the threshold corresponding to the transition time.

77. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65, characterized in that, The digitization device also includes a data transmission module for transmitting the threshold-time pair data.

78. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 65 or 77, characterized in that, The digitization device also includes an image reconstruction module that processes the threshold-time pair according to a preset algorithm.

79. A digitizing device for scintillation pulses, characterized in that, The digitization device includes: Multiple acquisition modules are used to acquire the flashing pulses to be processed; Multiple threshold switching modules are used to switch between multiple preset thresholds; Multiple parallel comparison modules are provided, each of which is connected to an acquisition module and a threshold switch. The comparison module is used to compare the flashing pulse to be processed with the current threshold. When the flashing pulse to be processed crosses the current threshold, a jump signal is output. The sampling module is used to sequentially sample the transition signals from multiple comparison modules to obtain the corresponding flicker pulse threshold-time pairs.

80. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The threshold switching module includes a digital-to-analog converter, which is used to preset multiple thresholds.

81. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The threshold switching module is used for: When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

82. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The threshold switching module is used for: The next threshold is switched according to the status signal used to indicate the threshold switching, until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

83. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The comparison module includes a comparator, which compares the flicker pulse to be processed with the current threshold.

84. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The flicker pulse to be processed is compared with a first threshold among the plurality of thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched, until all the thresholds have been compared.

85. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The flash pulse to be processed is compared with the maximum threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flash pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched, until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

86. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The flicker pulse to be processed is compared with the first threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a jump signal is output and the signal is switched to the maximum threshold. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a jump signal is output and the next threshold is switched in sequence until all the multiple thresholds have been compared.

87. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The comparison module is used for: The process compares the flicker pulse to be processed with the first threshold among the thresholds. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the first threshold, a transition signal is output and the process switches to the next threshold sequentially. When the amplitude of the flicker pulse to be processed exceeds the maximum threshold, a transition signal is output, and the comparison is completed.

88. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The sampling module includes a time-to-digital converter, which sequentially performs time sampling on the transition signal.

89. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The digitization device also includes multiple control modules, which are used to receive status signals generated by the corresponding comparison modules and control the corresponding threshold switching modules to switch to the next threshold.

90. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The flicker pulse threshold-time pair includes the transition time obtained by time sampling of the transition signal and the threshold corresponding to the transition time.

91. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79, characterized in that, The digitization device also includes a data transmission module for transmitting the threshold-time pair data.

92. The digitization device for scintillation pulses according to claim 79 or 91, characterized in that, The digitization device also includes an image reconstruction module that processes the threshold-time pair according to a preset algorithm.

93. A digital device, characterized in that, include: The digitization device for the scintillation pulse as described in any one of claims 65 to 78.

94. A digital device, characterized in that, include: A memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 64.

95. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 64.

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