609 results about "Radioactive Activity" patented technology

Pain factors are labeled with targeted agents or markers delivered into the body. The labeled pain factors are imaged with appropriate imaging tools in a manner allowing selective identification and localization of areas of pain source or transmission. The labeled pain factors allow spatial differentiation in the imaging sufficient to specify the location of the pain so as to drive therapeutic decisions and techniques in order to treat the pain. Pain factors labeled and imaged in this manner may include one or more of nerve factors, blood vessel factors, cellular factors, and inflammation factors. Labeled markers may include for example radioactive materials (e.g. tritiated or iodinated molecules) or other materials such as metal (e.g. gold) nanoparticles. Intermediary binding materials may be used, such as for example bi-specific antibodies. Therapeutic components of the system and method include for example localized energy delivery or ablation treatments, or local drug or other chemical delivery. Locations containing pain factor selectively bound by targeted agents are selectively treated with directed energy into a region containing the targeted agent bound to the pain factor.

a system for calculating a position of a radioactivity emitting source in a system-of-coordinates, the system comprising (a) a radioactive emission detector; (b) a position tracking system being connected to and/or communicating with the radioactive emission detector; and (c) a data processor being designed and configured for receiving data inputs from the position tracking system and from the radioactive emission detector and for calculating the position of the radioactivity emitting source in the system-of-coordinates.

A target system includes a beam path for receiving a particle beam and a target chamber for housing a sample material. A target foil is operable for holding the sample material in the target chamber. A pressure cell is formed along a portion of the beam path between the target foil and a pressure foil. When irradiating the sample material with the particle beam, the pressure inside the target chamber and the pressure cell is increased and maintained at substantially the same pressure. A method includes inserting a sample material into a target chamber of a target system. The target system includes a pressure cell formed along a portion of a beam path between a pressure foil and a target foil, adjacent the target chamber. The pressure cell and the target chamber are pressurized and maintained at substantially the same pressure. The sample material is irradiated to produce a radioisotope.

Radioimaging methods, devices and radiopharmaceuticals therefor.

A system and method are provided for intravascular nuclear imaging, which is furthermore designed to locate the plaque along the artery and to estimate its thickness. Radiolabeled antibodies directed specific antigens in the atherosclerotic plaque or radiolabeled immunoscintigraphy pharmaceutical, which binds apoptotic cells, have been proposed for detection of vulnerable plaque. Other Radiopharmaceuticals such as Gallium Citrate, radio labeled white blood cells etc. call also be used to illuminate inflammatory processes.

A radioactive emission probe in communication with a position tracking system and the use thereof in a variety of systems and methods of medical imaging and procedures, are provided. Specifically, wide aperture collimation—deconvolution algorithms are provided, for obtaining a high-efficiency, high resolution image of a radioactivity emitting source, by scanning the radioactivity emitting source with a probe of a wide-aperture collimator, and at the same time, monitoring the position of the radioactive emission probe, at very fine time intervals, to obtain the equivalence of fine-aperture collimation. The blurring effect of the wide aperture is then corrected mathematically. Furthermore, an imaging method by depth calculations is provided, based on the attenuation of photons of different energies, which are emitted from the same source, coupled with position monitoring.

A method and apparatus for discriminating the types of radiation interacting with an integrated radiation detector having of a pulse-mode operating photosensor which is optically coupled to a gamma-ray scintillator sensor and a neutron scintillator sensor and uses an analog to digital converter (ADC) and a charge to digital converter (QDC) to determine scintillation decay times and classify radiation interactions by radiation type. The pulse processing provides for, among other things, faithful representation of the true energy spectrum of the gamma radiation field and allows for radioisotope identification by searching for the presence of characteristic energy lines in the gamma energy spectrum. The pulse shape discrimination method ensures that the high sensitivity and resolution of the isotope identification function is not affected during operation in mixed neutron-gamma fields.

Described is a multi-sensor radiation dosimeter system with (1) a self-indicating, instant radiation sensor and (2) a conventional radiation sensor for monitoring high energy radiations, such as X-ray, electrons and neutrons. Conventional radiation sensors, such as X-ray film, TLD (Thermoluminescence Dosimeters), RLG (Radioluminescence Glass) and OSL (Optically Simulated Luminescence), are highly sensitive but are not instant. In the event of a dirty bomb, nuclear detonation or a radiological accident, one needs to know the exposure instantly so proper precautions can be taken and medical treatment, if required, can be given to the victim. If a self-indicating instant sensor is one of the sensors, one would know the dose instantly, and dose can be determined with higher accuracy than by the traditional methods. This type of device offers the best of both technologies.

A radionuclide scanner in which multiple detectors are equipped with collimators such that a circular rotation of the detector around a target provides the movement needed for collimator sampling. This collimator sampling is accomplished through strategic placement of the detector heads relative to each other such that for any given projection, a complete imaging of the projection is acquired by summing the complementary contributions of the multiple detector heads at the projection under consideration.

A method and system for monitoring loading of radiation into an insertion device for use in a radiation therapy treatment to determine whether the treatment will be in agreement with a radiation therapy plan. In a preferred embodiment, optical sensors and radiation sensors are used to monitor loading of radioactive seeds and spacers into a needle as part of a prostate brachytherapy treatment.

The invention provides a radioactive substance detection method, a radioactive substance detection device and a radioactive substance detection system based on a gamma camera. The detection method comprises the following steps of: receiving gamma photons incident from all directions of a target angle plane (alpha, beta) defined by radioactive substances by using the gamma camera; generating gamma photon energy spectrums and projection data of the radioactive substances; and reconstructing the projection data by using a 'maximum likelihood estimation' statistical iterative algorithm to obtain a gamma radiation image with quantitative information. By the method, the spatial resolution and the signal to noise ratio of the gamma radiation image are increased, spaces of the radioactive substances are positioned, the radiation dose is measured, nuclide types of the radioactive substances are identified, and the radioactive activity is measured.

A multimodal source for imaging with at least one of a gamma camera, a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner and a single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanner, and at least one of a computed tomography (CT) scanner, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and optical scanner. The multimodal source has radioactive material permanently incorporated into a matrix of material, at least one of a material that is a target for CT, MRI and optical scanning, and a container which holds the radioactive material and the CT, MRI and/or optical target material. The source can be formed into a variety of different shapes such as points, cylinders, rings, squares, sheets and anthropomorphic shapes. The material that is a target for gamma cameras, PET scanners and SPECT scanners and/or CT, MRI and/or optical scanners can be formed into shapes that mimic biological structures.

A radioisotope identification and localization device having at least one radiation detector with three dimensional event localization that utilizes a spatial correlation of projection vectors arising from Compton scattering of gamma ray emissions. Source identification and location is supplied by a reconstruction that searches for solutions with radioactive material of unknown type. Detection, identification and localization does not require full energy deposition. Identification and location of known or unknown radioactive material somewhere in a large active area of interrogation is achieved.

Radiographic system and method for noninvasively assessing the response of tissue to a compound, such as a therapeutic compound. In one embodiment, a non-radioactive, radio-opaque imaging agent accumulates in tissue in proportion to the tissue concentration of a predefined cellular target. The imaging agent is administered to a live organism, and after an accumulation interval, radiographic images are acquired. The tissue being examined is transilluminated by X-ray beams with preselected different mean energy spectra, and a separate radiographic image is acquired during transillumination by each beam. An image processing system performs a weighted combination of the acquired images to produce a first image. The image processing procedure isolates the radiographic density contributed solely by differential tissue accumulation of the imaging agent. A compound is administered to the organism, and after a selected interval, a second radiographic image of the tissue is acquired. Radiographic density contributed by accumulated imaging agent in corresponding areas of tissue in the first and second images are compared. Differences in radiographic density between the images reflect changes in the concentration of the cellular target that have occurred after administration of the compound. The system and method may be used to assess therapeutic efficacy of compounds in the drug discovery process, in clinical trials, and in the evaluation of clinical treatment. In other embodiments, pharmacological and toxicological effects of a wide variety of compounds on tissue may be noninvasively assessed.

Digital images or the charge from pixels in light sensitive semiconductor based imagers may be used to detect gamma rays and energetic particles emitted by radioactive materials. Methods may be used to identify pixel-scale artifacts introduced into digital images and video images by high energy gamma rays. Statistical tests and other comparisons on the artifacts in the images or pixels may be used to prevent false-positive detection of gamma rays. The sensitivity of the system may be used to detect radiological material at distances in excess of 50 meters. Advanced processing techniques allow for gradient searches to more accurately determine the source's location, while other acts may be used to identify the specific isotope. Coordination of different imagers and network alerts permit the system to separate non-radioactive objects from radioactive objects.

A cylinder (10) of radiation detectors (12) detects radiation pairs with corresponding electronic detector channels (22) which have non-uniform time-varying temporal delays. A plurality of calibration radiation sources (20) that concurrently emit radiation pairs is mounted at known positions inside of the cylinder. A temporal correction processor (46) uses the known positions of the calibration sources to determine errors in the relative detection times of radiation pairs from the calibration sources and uses the determined errors to generate corrections for the relative detection times of radiation pairs from radiopharmaceuticals injected in an imaged subject.

The invention provides a method and device for conducting real-time dynamic tracking positioning on radioactive substances. The device mainly comprises a gamma camera, a visible light video camera and a data processing device. The method includes the steps that the gamma camera receives gamma light quanta which are incident in all the directions of a target angle plane and are defined from the radioactive substances in real time, projection data of the radioactive substances are generated, and the visible light video camera acquires a visible light scene image in the field of view in real time; the data processing device reestablishes the projection data to obtain a gamma radiation image, the gamma radiation image and the visible light image are fused to obtain a dynamic image with radioactive substance quantitative information, and real-time tracking positioning can be conducted on the radioactive substances according to the dynamic image. The method and device for conducting real-time dynamic tracking on the radioactive substances can be applied to a large-scale public place for the stream of people to come and go, tracking positioning can be conducted on the goods with the radioactive substances or radioactive pedestrians, and therefore the safety of the pedestrians at the public places can be improved.