Detector arrays with electronically adjustable detector positions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10130280-B2
Application number	US-201514711042-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2015
Priority date	May 13, 2015
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

A system including a detector array configured to receive electromagnetic (EM) radiation from a target object, the detector array having one or more detectors is disclosed. The system also includes a readout integrated circuit and one or more processors. The readout integrated circuit has a circuit comprising a number of detector boundary selection components, each one of the number of detector boundary selection components configured to select or adjust a detector boundary from least one of a sub-column boundary or an adjustable boundary.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a detector array configured to receive electromagnetic (EM) radiation from a target object, the detector array comprising one or more detectors, each detector organized into a plurality of segments, each segment comprising one or more rows of the detector substantially perpendicular to a designed scan axis, each segment comprising one or more columns of detecting components substantially parallel to the designed scan axis, each of the one or more columns comprising one or more sub-columns; each one of the one or more sub-columns having a predetermined position, the predetermined position being defined by one of predetermined sub-column edges or adjustable sub-column edges;
a readout circuit comprising a number of detector boundary selection components, each one of the number of detector boundary selection components configured to select or adjust a detector boundary from least one of a sub-column boundary or an adjustable sub-column boundary; and
one or more processors configured to perform the following for each segment of the detector array:
if a correction signal is received, activate selected ones of the number of detector boundary selection components;
otherwise, use detector boundaries in a conventional configuration; and

obtain, from each detector, a plurality of signals.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each detector boundary selection component from the number of detector boundary selection components comprises a switch.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each detector boundary selection component from the number of detector boundary selection components comprises at least two field manipulators operatively attached to the detector array.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the correction signal is received when there is misalignment at any of said each segment.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein detector boundaries are moved by one of right shifting or left shifting; and wherein detector size is substantially preserved.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein detector boundaries are moved and wherein detector size is not required to be constant.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform the following for each signal from the plurality of signals in order to yield a plurality of portions of a resulting image: obtain scan data from said each signal, said each signal accumulating scan data of a portion of the target object; and generate image data from the scan data for a portion of the resulting image that corresponds to the portion of the target object.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a number of the one or more sub-columns per column is n; and wherein there is misalignment at the each segment if a portion of the target object has moved substantially at least ½n of a column relative to the column.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , each segment comprising two or more rows of the detector.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more processors are configured by having computer usable media with computer readable code embodied therein, which when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the following for each segment of the detector array:
if a correction signal is received, activate selected ones of the number of detector boundary selection components;
otherwise, use detector boundaries in a conventional configuration; and
obtain, from each detector, a plurality of signals.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the computer readable code also causes the one or more processors to:
perform the following for each signal to yield a plurality of portions of a resulting image: obtain scan data from the each signal, the each signal accumulating the scan data of a portion of the target object; and generate image data from the scan data for a portion of the resulting image that corresponds to the portion of the target object.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising an output module configured to display the resulting image generated from the image data.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the boundary selection components receive a correction signal for a purpose of receiving several of multiple detections with a plurality of overlapping signals.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are included in the readout circuit.

Assignees

• Raytheon Co

Inventors

• Chambers Matthew D
• Vampola John L
• Harris Micky

Classifications

• G16H30/40

  for processing medical images, e.g. editing · CPC title

• H04N25/46

  by combining or binning pixels · CPC title

• H04N25/711

  Time delay and integration [TDI] registers; TDI shift registers · CPC title

• H04N25/768

  for time delay and integration [TDI] · CPC title

• A61B2562/046

  in a matrix array · CPC title