Implementation of a low cost digital data acquisition system for scintilation cameras

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · J. Nucl. Med.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6845441

Spies, S M; Silverstein, E A; Spies, W G

Many commonly performed Nuclear Medicine studies involve the acquisition of image data in digital form so that subsequent quantitative analysis can be performed. Since the resources of typical modern minicomputer-based Nuclear Medicine data systems are greatly underutilized during acquisition of relatively low count rate data, the purpose of this study was to develop a low cost digital system which could relieve the main processing computer of this task. A digital acquisition system was designed with the following goals in mind: low cost, performance specifications suitable to meet the needs of most commonly performed studies, upgradability, data compatability with the main computer system, and ease of use. The system is based on an Intel 8888 microprocessor with 192K of RAM. A custom designed front end supports 256 x 256 matrix acquisition with 16 bits of precision, and ADC conversion time is 1.5 ..mu..sec. System software currently is capable of handling camera data at 50,000 cps with no data loss. The system cost (<$5000) is less than one tenth that of many commercially available systems. Software has been developed to pass image data to the host computer system (Digital Equipment Corporation Gamma 11), allowing for subsequent display and analysis. Adaptation to use with other vendor's systems would be straightforward. The feasability of implementing data acquisition with low cost microprocessor based systems has been demonstrated, and should help pave the way for digital storage of all Nuclear Medicine data.

• Research Organization: Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL
• OSTI ID: 6845441
• Report Number(s): CONF-840619-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: J. Nucl. Med.; (United States) Journal Volume: 25:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440101 -- Radiation Instrumentation-- General Detectors or Monitors &amp; Radiometric Instruments
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
550600* -- Medicine
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
CAMERAS
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERS
COST
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
DATA ANALYSIS
DATA BASE MANAGEMENT
DIGITAL SYSTEMS
DISPLAY DEVICES
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
IMAGE PROCESSING
MANAGEMENT
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEDICINE
MEMORY DEVICES
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
MICROPROCESSORS
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
PERFORMANCE
PROCESSING
RADIATION DETECTORS
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS