Digirad wins solid-state detector patent
Solid-state gamma camera developer Digirad of San Diego announced this month that the U.S. Patent Office has granted the company a patent on a method of manufacturing solid-state digital detector modules. Digirad believes the patent is so comprehensive
Solid-state gamma camera developer Digirad of San Diego announced this month that the U.S. Patent Office has granted the company a patent on a method of manufacturing solid-state digital detector modules. Digirad believes the patent is so comprehensive that it will be difficult for other potential solid-state detector manufacturers to avoid infringement.
The patent covers technology that uses semiconductor gamma ray detector modules that can be butted on all sides to form a seamless imaging array of any size. The patent also covers gamma cameras that use these modules, according to the company.
Digirad is unaware of any commercially feasible way to manufacture a solid-state, large field-of-view gamma camera without violating the patent, because solid-state cameras require individual detectors that must be tiled together, rather than a single crystal as used in vacuum-tube systems, according to Karen Klause, president and CEO. Klause declined to comment on whether Digirad would license the buttable module technology.
Digirad manufactures and markets Digirad 2020 TC Imager, a portable single-head gamma camera that uses solid-state detector technology.
Newsletter
Stay at the forefront of radiology with the Diagnostic Imaging newsletter, delivering the latest news, clinical insights, and imaging advancements for today’s radiologists.
Stroke MRI Study Assesses Impact of Motion Artifacts Upon AI and Radiologist Lesion Detection
July 16th 2025Noting a 7.4 percent incidence of motion artifacts on brain MRI scans for suspected stroke patients, the authors of a new study found that motion artifacts can reduce radiologist and AI accuracy for detecting hemorrhagic lesions.
