Appeal 2007-1230
Application 10/633,935
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellant invented a gamma camera for obtaining images of a
patient’s body organs. Specifically, the camera comprises a slat collimator
that collimates gamma photons in one dimension to multiple elongated bar
detector strips made of a scintillating material (i.e., a material that emits light
photons in response to gamma radiation). Photodetectors are coupled to an
end of each bar detector strip normal to the strips’ elongated dimension.
Due to the one-dimensional nature of the detection, high positional
resolution is required only in the dimension perpendicular to the slat
collimators.1 Claim 11 is illustrative:
11. A gamma camera, comprising:
a plurality of elongated bar detector strips made of scintillating
material;
at least one photodetector coupled to an end of each of said bar
detector strips normal to said elongated dimension; and
a slat collimator including a plurality of elongated slats, for
collimating each of said plurality of bar detector strips to receive
gamma photons in only a single dimension.
The Examiner relies on the following prior art references to show
unpatentability:
Miraldi US 3,688,113 Aug. 29, 1972
Iwanczyk US 6,521,894 B1 Feb. 18, 2003
Zeng US 6,762,413 B2 Jul. 13, 2004
(filed Nov. 27, 2002)
1 See generally Specification 1:6-8; 5:3-6:27.
2
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