System and method for collimation in diagnostic imaging systems

Abstract

A system and method for collimation in diagnostic imaging systems is provided. One collimator includes a plurality of parallel hole segments and a plurality of collimator bores within each of the plurality of parallel hole segments. Additionally, all of the plurality of collimator bores in at least one of the plurality of parallel hole segments have a first pointing direction and all of the plurality of collimator bores in at least one other of the plurality of parallel hole segments have a second pointing direction, wherein the plurality of parallel hole segments are arranged in a fanbeam collimation configuration. Further, the first pointing direction is different than the second pointing direction.

1 . A collimator for a radiation imaging detector, the collimator comprising:
 a plurality of parallel hole segments; and   a plurality of collimator bores within each of the plurality of parallel hole segments, wherein all of the plurality of collimator bores in at least one of the plurality of parallel hole segments have a first pointing direction and all of the plurality of collimator bores in at least one other of the plurality of parallel hole segments have a second pointing direction, the first pointing direction being different than the second pointing direction, such that the plurality of parallel hole segments are arranged in a fanbeam collimation configuration.   
     
     
         2 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein the fanbeam collimation configuration defines a cone-beam arrangement, wherein a field of view of the plurality of segments is smaller than a field of view of the collimator. 
     
     
         3 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein the first pointing direction defines at least a first slant angle and the second pointing direction defines at least a second slant angle, the first slant angle being greater than the second slant angle, and the plurality of parallel hole segments having the first pointing direction located closer to a collimator body edge than the plurality of parallel hole segments having the second pointing direction. 
     
     
         4 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein one of the first or second pointing directions is ninety degrees relative to a front face of one of the plurality of parallel hole segments. 
     
     
         5 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein a difference between the first and second pointing directions is the same as a gantry rotation step, an integer multiple thereof or a sub-multiple thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of parallel hole segments are formed from angle cut parallel hole collimator sections. 
     
     
         7 . The collimator of  claim 1 , further comprising a shielding member in a gap between at least two of the plurality of parallel hole segments. 
     
     
         8 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of parallel hole segments have collimator bores with the first pointing direction and at least two of the plurality of parallel hole segments have collimator bores with the second pointing direction. 
     
     
         9 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of collimator bores are pointed along a length of a collimator body. 
     
     
         10 . The collimator of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of collimator bores in different ones of the plurality of parallel hole segments have different lengths. 
     
     
         11 . A nuclear medicine (NM) imaging system comprising:
 a gantry;   at least one imaging detector supported on the gantry and configured to rotate about the gantry defining an axis of rotation; and   a collimator coupled to the at least one imaging detector, the collimator having a plurality of parallel hole segments, wherein a plurality of collimator bores are within each of the plurality of parallel hole segments, with all of the plurality of collimator bores in at least one of the plurality of parallel hole segments having a first pointing direction and all of the plurality of collimator bores in at least one other of the plurality of parallel hole segments having a second pointing direction, the first pointing direction being different than the second pointing direction, such that the plurality of parallel hole segments are arranged in a fanbeam collimation configuration.   
     
     
         12 . The NM imaging system of  claim 11 , wherein the fanbeam collimation configuration defines a cone-beam arrangement, wherein a field of view of the plurality of parallel hole segments is smaller than a field of view of the collimator. 
     
     
         13 . The NM imaging system of  claim 12 , further comprising an image reconstruction module configured to iteratively reconstruct an image based on acquired image data received by the at least one imaging detector. 
     
     
         14 . The NM imaging system of  claim 11 , wherein a difference between the first and second pointing directions is the same as a rotation step of the gantry, an integer multiple thereof or a sub-multiple thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The NM imaging system of  claim 11 , further comprising an image reconstruction module configured to reconstruct an image from data acquired from the at least one imaging detector, wherein the image reconstruction module is configured to rebin the acquired data into aligned multiple parallel projections. 
     
     
         16 . The NM imaging system of  claim 11 , further comprising a controller configured to control movement of the at least one imaging detector. 
     
     
         17 . The NM imaging system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one imaging detector comprises a Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) camera. 
     
     
         18 . A method for manufacturing a collimator of an imaging system, the method comprising:
 coupling tubes together to form a stack of parallel hole collimator segments or forming a corrugated collimator core;   cutting the stack or the corrugated collimator core at one or more pointing directions to form a plurality of slanted collimator segments; and   coupling the plurality of slanted collimator segments together to form a segmented type collimator, wherein at least two of the slanted collimator segments have collimator bores with different pointing directions and are arranged in a fanbeam collimation configuration.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least one of the pointing directions is ninety degrees relative to a front face of the parallel hole collimator segment. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the cutting comprises providing angular increments that are the same as a gantry rotation step, an integer multiple thereof or a sub-multiple thereof. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising providing a shielding member in a gap between at least two of the plurality of slanted collimator segments. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising coupling at least one non-slanted collimator segment together with the plurality of slanted collimator segments.