X-ray or gamma ray systems or devices – Electronic circuit – Exposure timer
Patent
1991-05-07
1992-10-20
Church, Craig E.
X-ray or gamma ray systems or devices
Electronic circuit
Exposure timer
358111, H05G 164
Patent
active
051577038
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a method of examining cellular changes in an organism, specifically pathological cellular changes in a human being, and to a device for carrying through this method.
The examination and study of the cell structure is of emient importance in research and particularly in medicine. It involves the early detection of pathological cellular changes such as those occurring with cancer, which is frequently of vital importance for an appropriate therapy. It has been common so far to determine such cellular changes under the microscope. This method is comparatively expensive since, on the one hand, it requires the excision of tissue and, on the other hand, the preparation and staining of the microscopic section is time-consuming.
Organ-imaging methods so far common such as conventional X-ray methods, computer tomographic or nuclear-spin resonance methods entail the disadvantage of being comparatively complicated to apply and of being hardly suitable for screening applications. As a result, cancerous tissue is detected either too late or not unambiguously.
The invention is based on the object of providing a method and a device by means of which an early detection of cellular changes in an organism will be possible with a low expenditure in work and time.
Expedient embodiments of the invention are defined in the subclaims made dependent on the foregoing claims.
The invention is based on the finding that the interaction of X-radiation with the cellular substance is influenced by an immediately preceding exposure to X-rays. In accordance with the invention, the cellular substance to be examined is accordingly irradiated with two X-ray pulses in immediate succession. In this method, the respective interaction between the X-radiation and the cellular substance is determined by measuring or recording the intensity of the transmitted X-rays or the weakening of the intensity of the X-radiation, respectively. The first X-ray pulse results in an excitation of the cellular substance so that the second X-ray pulse will be transmitted through the excited cellular substance. It has become evident that the first X-radiation pulse will undergo a stronger weakening by the cellular substance than does the immediately following second X-radiation pulse. When two X-radiation pulses of the same spectral intensity distribution will be emitted through the same cellular substance in immediate succession a transmitted intensity will be measured for the second X-radiation pulse which is higher than the intensity measured for the first X-radiation pulse.
Moreover, the invention utilizes the finding that the difference of the weakening of the X-radiation intensity between the first and the second X-radiation pulse depends on the condition of the cells in the irradiated substance. In accordance with the invention, the condition of the cells in the substance may therefore be concluded from the measured difference in the weakening of the first and the second X-radiation pulse. In particular with pathological cellular changes a distinctly measurable change of the difference in weakening will occur in a comparison against healthy cells.
It is a known fact that healthy cells of organisms present a bioelectric potential in the range between 50 and 100 mV approximately, and between some 90 and 100 mV in man. According to more recent studies, this bioelectric potential of the cell breaks down to roughly 30 to 10 mV approximately in the event of cancer. It is assumed that this depolarization of the cell, which occurs in the event of carcinomatous involvement, is also linked up with the change of the cellular structure which results in the change of the difference in weakening which the invention makes use of to detect the change in the cell.
In an embodiment of the invention, a sample containing the cellular material to be examined is exposed to X-radiation pulses of the same spectral intensity distribution and the same overall intensity in immediate succession. The transmitted intensity of the X-radiation is detected, using a de
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Brown Donald
Church Craig E.
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