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EP0197786A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Improvements relating to cardiac and the like monitoring

Assignee: Lahiri Avijit
•
Filing: 1986-04-07
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2006-04-07
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Abstract

Abstract A probe for use in the characterisation of bloodflow in the heart or other tissue by measurement of radioactivity from a tracer injected into the bloodstream comprises a crystal (1) adapted to scintillate in response to gamma radiation incident from the tissue under investigation, and a solid state photodiode (2) optically coupled to the crystal to derive an electrical signal indicative of the incident radiation. The photodiode replaces the large and cumbersome photomultiplier tube of conventional nuclear bloodflow detectors and results in a useful miniaturisation to facilitate e.g. ambulatory monitoring, and an overall improvement in convenience of operation.

Inventors

  • 👤 John Cornelius William Crawley
  • 👤 John Francis Caunt

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-31 20:04
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01T; G01T1/00; G01T1/16; G01T1/161; A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/02; A61B5/026; A61B5/0275; A61B5/02755; A61B6/00; A61B6/42; A61B6/4208; A61B6/4258; G01T1/20; G01T1/2018; G01T1/20188

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim 66 words
A probe for use in the characterisation of bloodflow in body tissue by measurement of radioactivity from an injected tracer, comprising a radiation-sensitive crystal (1) adapted to scintillate in response to gamma radiation incident from the tissue under investigation, and characterised in that a solid state photodiode (2) is optically coupled to the crystal (1) whereby to derive an electrical signal indicative of said incident radiation.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 66 words
A probe for use in the characterisation of bloodflow in body tissue by measurement of radioactivity from an injected tracer, comprising a radiation-sensitive crystal (1) adapted to scintillate in response to gamma radiation incident from the tissue under investigation, and characterised in that a solid state photodiode (2) is optically coupled to the crystal (1) whereby to derive an electrical signal indicative of said incident radiation.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 14 words
A probe according to claim 1 wherein said crystal (1) is of sodium iodide.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 14 words
A probe according to claim 1 wherein said crystal (1) is of caesium iodide.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 34 words
A probe according to any preceding claim wherein a pre- amplifier (5/7) for the electrical output of said photodiode (2) is incorporated in a structural unit together with said crystal (1) and photodiode (2).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 71 words
A probe according to claim 4 comprising a main housing (4); a sealed enclosure (3) mounted within said housing (4) and containing said crystal (1) and photodiode (2); a radiation-resistant structure (6) juxtaposed to said enclosure (3) to define a collimatcr for incident radiation from the tissue under investigation; and a board (7) for components of said pre-amplifier located within said housing (4) externally of said enclosure (3) and structure (6)
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 34 words
A probe according to claim 5 comprising interference- sensitive components of said pre-amplifier (5) mounted within said enclosure (3) and wherein said radiation-resistant structure (6) extends around said enclosure (3) to screen the same.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

JPS59200983A Cited

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