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Wang F, Kao CM, Zhang X, Liu L, Hua Y, Kim H, Choong WS, Xie Q. DOI- and TOF-capable PET array detector using double-ended light readout and stripline-based row and column electronic readout. IEEE Trans Radiat Plasma Med Sci 2024; 8:269-276. [PMID: 38654812 PMCID: PMC11034922 DOI: 10.1109/trpms.2024.3360942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
We investigate a highly multiplexing readout for depth-of-interaction (DOI) and time-of-flight PET detector consisting of an N×N crystals whose light outputs at the front and back ends are detected by using silicon photomultipliers (SiPM). The front N×N SiPM array is read by using a stripline (SL) configured to support discrimination of the row position of the signal-producing crystal. The back N×N SiPM array is similarly read by an SL for column discrimination. Hence, the detector has only four outputs. We built 4×4 and 8×8 detector modules (DM) by using 3.0×3.0×20 mm3 lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicates. The outputs were sampled and processed offline. For both DMs, crystal discrimination was successful. For the 4×4 DM, we obtained an average energy resolution (ER) of 14.1%, an average DOI resolution of 2.5 mm, a non DOI-corrected coincidence resolving time (CRT), measured in coincidence with a single-pixel reference detector, of about 495 ps. For the 8×8 DM, the average ER, average DOI resolution and average CRT were 16.4%, 2.9 mm, and 641 ps, respectively. We identified the intercrystal scattering as a probable cause for the CRT deterioration when the DM was increased from 4×4 to 8×8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Wang
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | | | - Xiaoyu Zhang
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Linfeng Liu
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | | | - Heejong Kim
- The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Woon-Seng Choong
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Qingguo Xie
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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Liu Z, Mungai S, Niu M, Kuang Z, Ren N, Wang X, Sang Z, Yang Y. Edge effect reduction of high-resolution PET detectors using LYSO and GAGG phoswich crystals. Phys Med Biol 2023; 68. [PMID: 36808920 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/acbde1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023]
Abstract
Objective. Small-animal positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful preclinical imaging tool in animal model studies. The spatial resolution and sensitivity of current PET scanners developed for small-animal imaging need to be improved to increase the quantitative accuracy of preclinical animal studies. This study aimed to improve the identification capability of edge scintillator crystals of a PET detector which will enable to apply a crystal array with the same cross-section area as the active area of a photodetector for improving the detection area and thus reducing or eliminating the inter-detector gaps.Approach. PET detectors using crystal arrays with mixed lutetium yttrium orthosilicate (LYSO) and gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet (GAGG) crystals were developed and evaluated. The crystal arrays consisted of 31 × 31 array of 0.49 × 0.49 × 20 mm3crystals; they were read out by two silicon photomultiplier arrays with pixel sizes of 2 × 2 mm2that were placed at both ends of the crystal arrays. The second or first outermost layer of the LYSO crystals was replaced by GAGG crystals in the two crystal arrays. The two crystal types were identified using a pulse-shape discrimination technique to provide better edge crystal identification.Main results. Using the pulse shape discrimination technique, almost all (except for a few edge) crystals were resolved in the two detectors; high sensitivity was achieved by using the scintillator array and the photodetector with the same areas and achieved high resolution by using crystals with sizes equal to 0.49 × 0.49 × 20 mm3. Energy resolutions of 19.3 ± 1.8% and 18.9 ± 1.5%, depth-of-interaction resolutions of 2.02 ± 0.17 mm and 2.04 ± 0.18 mm, and timing resolutions of 1.6 ± 0.2 ns and 1.5 ± 0.2 ns were achieved by the two detectors, respectively.Significance. In summary, novel three-dimensional high-resolution PET detectors consisting of a mixture of LYSO and GAGG crystals were developed. The detectors significantly improve the detection area with the same photodetectors and thus improve the detection efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Liu
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Samuel Mungai
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming Niu
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhonghua Kuang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Ning Ren
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaohui Wang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Ziru Sang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Yongfeng Yang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
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Liu Z, Niu M, Kuang Z, Ren N, Wu S, Cong L, Wang X, Sang Z, Williams C, Yang Y. High resolution detectors for whole-body PET scanners by using dual-ended readout. EJNMMI Phys 2022; 9:29. [PMID: 35445890 PMCID: PMC9023628 DOI: 10.1186/s40658-022-00460-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Most current whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanners use detectors with high timing resolution to measure the time-of-flight of two 511 keV photons, improving the signal-to-noise ratio of PET images. However, almost all current whole-body PET scanners use detectors without depth-encoding capability; therefore, their spatial resolution can be affected by the parallax effect. METHODS In this work, four depth-encoding detectors consisting of LYSO arrays with crystals of 2.98 × 2.98 × 20 mm3, 2.98 × 2.98 × 30 mm3, 1.95 × 1.95 × 20 mm3, and 1.95 × 1.95 × 30 mm3, respectively, were read at both ends, with 6 × 6 mm2 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) pixels in a 4 × 4 array being used. The timing signals of the detectors were processed individually using an ultrafast NINO application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to obtain good timing resolution. The 16 energy signals of the SiPM array were read using a row and column summing circuit to obtain four position-encoding energy signals. RESULTS The four PET detectors provided good flood histograms in which all crystals could be clearly resolved, the crystal energy resolutions measured being 10.2, 12.1, 11.4 and 11.7% full width at half maximum (FWHM), at an average crystal depth of interaction (DOI) resolution of 3.5, 3.9, 2.7, and 3.0 mm, respectively. The depth dependence of the timing of each SiPM was measured and corrected, the timing of the two SiPMs being used as the timing of the dual-ended readout detector. The four detectors provided coincidence time resolutions of 180, 214, 239, and 263 ps, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The timing resolution of the dual-ended readout PET detector was approximately 20% better than that of the single-ended readout detector using the same LYSO array, SiPM array, and readout electronics. The detectors developed in this work used long crystals with small cross-sections and provided good flood histograms, DOI, energy, and timing resolutions, suggesting that they could be used to develop whole-body PET scanners with high sensitivity, uniform high spatial resolution, and high timing resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Liu
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Ming Niu
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Zhonghua Kuang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Ning Ren
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - San Wu
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Longhan Cong
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xiaohui Wang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Ziru Sang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Crispin Williams
- European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Yongfeng Yang
- Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
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Thyssen C, Deprez K, Mollet P, Van Holen R, Vandenberghe S. Simulation study on the performance of time-over-threshold based positioning in monolithic PET detectors. Phys Med Biol 2021; 66. [PMID: 34875646 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac40d1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The vast majority of PET detectors in the field today are based on pixelated scintillators. Yet, the resolution of this type of detector is limited by the pixel size. To overcome this limitation, one can use monolithic detectors. However, this detector architecture demands specific and high-speed detector readout of the photodetector array. A commonly used approach is to integrate the current pulses generated by every pixel but such circuitry quickly becomes bulky, power consuming and expensive. The objective of this work is to investigate a novel readout and event positioning scheme for monolithic PET detectors, based on time-over-threshold (ToT). In this case, we measure the time that the pulse is above a certain threshold through a comparator. The pulse widths are used for event positioning using a mean nearest neighbour approach (mNNToT). For energy determination one integrating multiplexed channel is foreseen. We evaluate the positioning accuracy and uniformity of such a ToT detector by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The impact of the threshold value is investigated and the results are compared to a detector using mean nearest neighbour with pulse-integration (mNNint), which has already proven to allow sub-mm resolution. We show minimal degradation in spatial resolution and bias performance compared to mNNint. The highest threshold results in the worst resolution performance but degradation remains below 0.1 mm. Bias is largely constant over different thresholds for mNNToTand close to identical to mNNint. Furthermore we show that ToT performs well in terms of detector uniformity and that scattered photons can be positioned inside the crystal with high accuracy. We conclude from this work that ToT is a valuable alternative to pulse-integration for monolithic PET detectors. This novel approach has an impact on PET detector development since it has the advantage of lower power consumption, compactness and inherent amplitude-to-time conversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Thyssen
- Medical Image and Signal Processing (MEDISIP), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,MOLECUBES, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | | | - Roel Van Holen
- Medical Image and Signal Processing (MEDISIP), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,MOLECUBES, Ghent, Belgium
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Bebié P, Becker R, Commichau V, Debus J, Dissertori G, Djambazov L, Eleftheriou A, Fischer J, Fischer P, Ito M, Khateri P, Lustermann W, Ritzer C, Ritzert M, Röser U, Tsoumpas C, Warnock G, Weber B, Wyss MT, Zagozdzinska-Bochenek A. SAFIR-I: Design and Performance of a High-Rate Preclinical PET Insert for MRI. Sensors (Basel) 2021; 21:7037. [PMID: 34770344 PMCID: PMC8588038 DOI: 10.3390/s21217037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
(1) Background: Small Animal Fast Insert for MRI detector I (SAFIR-I) is a preclinical Positron Emission Tomography (PET) insert for the Bruker BioSpec 70/30 Ultra Shield Refrigerated (USR) preclinical 7T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system. It is designed explicitly for high-rate kinetic studies in mice and rats with injected activities reaching 500MBq, enabling truly simultaneous quantitative PET and Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging with time frames of a few seconds in length. (2) Methods: SAFIR-I has an axial field of view of 54.2mm and an inner diameter of 114mm. It employs Lutetium Yttrium OxyorthoSilicate (LYSO) crystals and Multi Pixel Photon Counter (MPPC) arrays. The Position-Energy-Timing Application Specific Integrated Circuit, version 6, Single Ended (PETA6SE) digitizes the MPPC signals and provides time stamps and energy information. (3) Results: SAFIR-I is MR-compatible. The system's Coincidence Resolving Time (CRT) and energy resolution are between separate-uncertainty 209.0(3)ps and separate-uncertainty 12.41(02) Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) at low activity and separate-uncertainty 326.89(12)ps and separate-uncertainty 20.630(011) FWHM at 550MBq, respectively. The peak sensitivity is ∼1.6. The excellent performance facilitated the successful execution of first in vivo rat studies beyond 300MBq. Based on features visible in the acquired images, we estimate the spatial resolution to be ∼2mm in the center of the Field Of View (FOV). (4) Conclusion: The SAFIR-I PET insert provides excellent performance, permitting simultaneous in vivo small animal PET/MR image acquisitions with time frames of a few seconds in length at activities of up to 500MBq.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Bebié
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Robert Becker
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Volker Commichau
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Jan Debus
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Günther Dissertori
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Lubomir Djambazov
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Afroditi Eleftheriou
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland; (A.E.); (G.W.); (B.W.); (M.T.W.)
| | - Jannis Fischer
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Peter Fischer
- Institute of Computer Engineering, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (P.F.); (M.R.)
| | - Mikiko Ito
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Parisa Khateri
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Werner Lustermann
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Christian Ritzer
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Michael Ritzert
- Institute of Computer Engineering, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (P.F.); (M.R.)
| | - Ulf Röser
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
| | - Charalampos Tsoumpas
- Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK;
| | - Geoffrey Warnock
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland; (A.E.); (G.W.); (B.W.); (M.T.W.)
| | - Bruno Weber
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland; (A.E.); (G.W.); (B.W.); (M.T.W.)
| | - Matthias T. Wyss
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland; (A.E.); (G.W.); (B.W.); (M.T.W.)
| | - Agnieszka Zagozdzinska-Bochenek
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; (R.B.); (V.C.); (J.D.); (G.D.); (L.D.); (J.F.); (M.I.); (P.K.); (W.L.); (C.R.); (U.R.); (A.Z.-B.)
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Shim HS, Park H, Lee JS. A temperature-dependent gain compensation technique for positron emission tomography detectors based on a silicon photomultiplier. Phys Med Biol 2021; 66. [PMID: 34587608 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac2b81] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we propose a simple gain compensation technique for silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)-based positron emission tomography detectors, using a temperature sensor that automatically controls the bias voltage of the SiPM depending upon the ambient temperature. The temperature sensor output, for which the temperature coefficient can be controlled by the input voltage, is used as one end of the bias voltage. By adjusting the temperature coefficient, the proposed gain compensation method can be applied to various SiPMs with different breakdown voltages. As a proof of concept, the proposed method was evaluated for two scintillation detector setups. Applying the proposed method to a single-channel SiPM (ASD-NUV3S-P; AdvanSiD, Italy) coupled with a 3 mm × 3 mm × 20 mm LGSO crystal, the 511 keV photopeak position in the energy histogram changed by only 1.52% per 10 °C while, without gain compensation, it changed by 13.27% per 10 °C between 10 °C and 30 °C. On a 4 × 4 array MPPC (S14161-3050HS-04; Hamamatsu, Japan), coupled with a 3.12 mm × 3.12 mm × 15 mm 4 × 4 LSO array, the photopeak changes with and without gain compensation were 2.34% and 20.53% per 10 °C between 10 °C and 30 °C, respectively. On the wider range of temperature, between 0 °C and 40 °C, the photopeak changes with and without gain compensation were 3.09% and 20.89%, respectively. The energy resolution degradation of SiPM-based scintillation detectors operating at temperatures was negligible when the proposed gain compensation method was applied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeong Seok Shim
- Interdisciplinary Program of Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Integrated Major in Innovative Medical Science, Seoul National University Graduate School, Republic of Korea.,Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Haewook Park
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae Sung Lee
- Interdisciplinary Program of Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Integrated Major in Innovative Medical Science, Seoul National University Graduate School, Republic of Korea.,Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Brightonix Imaging Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea
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7
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Watanabe M, Moriya T, Uchida H, Omura T. Simulation study of potential time-of-flight capabilities for a multilayer DOI- PET detector with an independent readout structure. Phys Med Biol 2021; 66. [PMID: 34293731 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac16e7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
A multilayer depth-of-interaction positron emission tomography (DOI-PET) detector with an independent readout structure has a potential advantage as a time-of-flight (TOF)-PET detector. The thin scintillator block of each detector layer can afford an improved coincidence time resolution (CTR) of ∼100 ps because the photon transfer time spread within the scintillator inherently decreases. To evaluate the potential TOF capabilities of a multilayer DOI-PET detector, which consists of thin layers of a cerium-doped lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO:Ce) scintillator coupled to a multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) array, we examined the detector's CTR performance via Monte Carlo simulations. We used several types of scintillator structures: a monolithic plate, laser-processing array with 3.2 mm pitch, fine laser-processing array with 1.6 mm pitch, and pixelated array with 3.2 mm pitch, with 2, 4, 6, and 8 mm thickness values of a 25.6 mm × 25.6 mm scintillator cross-section. The MPPC array was composed of 3.0 mm × 3.0 mm photosensitive segments arranged in an 8 × 8 array. Here, we note that the CTR performance also significantly depends on the timing detection method, which generates a timing trigger signal for coincidence detection. Thus, we evaluated the CTRs for each scintillator structure by adopting four timing detection methods: using the total sum signal of 64 MPPC chips (T_sum), the maximum signal in the 64 MPPC chips (Max), the sum signal of a partial number of MPPC chips located at and in the vicinity of theγ-ray interaction position (P_sum), and the average of the timestamps generated at several MPPC chips (Ave). When using the T_sum for timing detection, the CTR full width at half-maximum values were ∼100 ps regardless of the scintillator structure. However, when using the Max signal approach, the CTRs of the monolithic plates, laser-processing arrays, and fine-pitch laser-processing arrays were drastically degraded with increasing thickness. On the other hand, the CTRs of the pixelated arrays exhibited almost no degradation. To improve the CTRs of the monolithic plate and the (fine-pitch) laser-processing array that exhibit a large light spread in the scintillator block, we applied the P_sum and Ave methods. The resulting CTRs significantly improved upon using P_sum; however, in the Ave approach the improvement effect disappeared when the thickness was <6 mm in case of our simulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitsuo Watanabe
- Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu Photonics K. K., Hamamatsu, Japan
| | - Takahiro Moriya
- Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu Photonics K. K., Hamamatsu, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Uchida
- Global Strategic Challenge Center, Hamamatsu Photonics K. K., Hamamatsu, Japan
| | - Tomohide Omura
- Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu Photonics K. K., Hamamatsu, Japan
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8
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Zhang X, Yu H, Xie Q, Xie S, Ye B, Guo M, Zhao Z, Huang Q, Xu J, Peng Q. Design study of a PET detector with 0.5 mm crystal pitch for high-resolution preclinical imaging. Phys Med Biol 2021; 66. [PMID: 34130263 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac0b82] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Preclinical positron emission tomography (PET) is a sensitive and quantitative molecule imaging modality widely used in characterizing the biological processes and diseases in small animals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the methods to optimize a PET detector for high-resolution preclinical imaging. The PET detector proposed in this study consists of a 28 × 28 array of LYSO crystals 0.5 × 0.5 × 6.25 mm3in size, a wedged lightguide, and a 6 × 6 array of SiPMs 3 × 3 mm2in size. The simulation results showed that the most uniform flood map was achieved when the thickness of the lightguide was 2.35 mm. The quality of the flood map was significantly improved by suppressing the electronics noises using the simple threshold method with a best threshold. The peak-to-valley ratio of flood map improved 25.4% when the algorithm of ICS rejection was applied. An energy resolution (12.96% ± 1.03%) was measured on the prototype scanner constructed with 12 proposed detectors. Lastly, a prototype preclinic PET imager was constructed with 12 optimized detectors. The point source experiment was performed and an excellent spatial resolution (axial: 0.56 mm, tangential: 0.46 mm, radial: 0.42 mm) was achieved with the proposed high-performance PET detectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Zhang
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongsen Yu
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiangqiang Xie
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Siwei Xie
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518132, People's Republic of China
| | - Baihezi Ye
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Minghao Guo
- School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhixiang Zhao
- School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiu Huang
- School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianfeng Xu
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiyu Peng
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518132, People's Republic of China
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9
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Domínguez-Jiménez DY, Alva-Sánchez H. Energy spectra due to the intrinsic radiation of LYSO/LSO scintillators for a wide range of crystal sizes. Med Phys 2021; 48:1596-1607. [PMID: 33475160 DOI: 10.1002/mp.14729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Most detectors in current positron emission tomography (PET) scanners and prototypes use lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) or lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) scintillators. The aim of this work is to provide a complete set of background energy spectra, due to the scintillator intrinsic radioactivity, for a wide range of crystal sizes. METHODS An analytical model, developed and validated in a previous work, was used to obtain the background energy spectra of square base cuboids of different dimensions. The model uses the photon absorption probabilities of the three gamma rays (88, 202, and 307 keV) emitted following the beta decay of 176 Lu to 176 Hf excited states. These probabilities were obtained for each crystal size considered in this work from Monte Carlo simulations using the PENELOPE code. The probabilities are then used to normalize and shift the beta spectrum to the corresponding energy value of the simultaneous detection of one, two, or three gamma rays in the scintillator. The simulated cuboids had side lengths of 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 mm and crystal thickness T = 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mm. From these results a complete set of energy spectra, including intermediate dimensions, were obtained. In addition, LYSO and LSO were compared in terms of their analytical background energy spectra for two crystal sizes. The analytical spectra were convolved using a variable Gaussian kernel to account for the energy resolution of a typical detector. A parameterization of the photon absorption probabilities for each gamma ray energy as a function of the cuboid volume to surface area ratio was obtained. RESULTS A data set of L(Y)SO background energy spectra was obtained and is available for the reader as 2D histograms. The model accurately predicts the structure of the energy spectra including the relative peak and valley intensities. The data allow visualizing how the structure evolves with increasing crystal length and thickness. Lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate and LSO present very similar background energy spectra for the range of sizes studied in this work and therefore the data generated can be confidently used for both scintillator materials. The filtered spectra showed a variable shift in the main peaks, depending on crystal size, alerting that to achieve a correct detector calibration using the background spectrum is not straight forward and requires precise data analysis and measurements. In addition, we found that square base L(Y)SO cuboids with same volume to surface area ratio have background spectra with the same structure. CONCLUSIONS We present the energy spectra of L(Y)SO crystal of different sizes which will be very useful for industry and research groups developing and simulating detectors for positron imaging applications in terms of calibration, quality assurance, crystal maps, detector fine gain tuning, background reduction and other applications using the long-lived 176 Lu source. We analyzed the data produced in this work and found that crystal cuboids with equal volume to surface area ratio produce the same background energy spectra, a conclusion that simplifies its calculation and clarifies why the same energy spectrum is observed under different experimental setups.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Héctor Alva-Sánchez
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 20-364, Mexico City, 01000, Mexico
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10
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Enríquez-Mier-Y-Terán FE, Ortega-Galindo AS, Murrieta-Rodríguez T, Rodríguez-Villafuerte M, Martínez-Dávalos A, Alva-Sánchez H. Coincidence energy spectra due to the intrinsic radioactivity of LYSO scintillation crystals. EJNMMI Phys 2020; 7:21. [PMID: 32297045 PMCID: PMC7160222 DOI: 10.1186/s40658-020-00291-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Lutetium oxyorthosilicate or lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) scintillation crystals used in most current PET scanner detectors contain 176Lu, which decays by beta emission to excited states of 176Hf accompanied by the emission of prompt gamma rays or internal conversion electrons. This intrinsic radioactivity can be self-detected in singles mode as a constant background signal that has an energy spectrum whose structure has been explained previously. In this work, we studied the energy spectrum due to the intrinsic radioactivity of LYSO scintillation crystals of two opposing detectors working in coincidence mode. The investigation included experimental data, Monte Carlo simulations and an analytical model. Results The structure of the energy spectrum was completely understood and is the result of the self-detection of beta particles from 176Lu in one crystal and the detection of one or more prompt gamma rays detected in coincidence by the opposing crystal. The most probable coincidence detection involves the gamma rays of 202 and 307 keV, which result in two narrow photopeaks, superimposed on a continuous energy distribution due to the beta particle energy deposition. The relative intensities of the gamma ray peaks depend on crystal size and detector separation distance, as is explained by the analytical model and verified through the Monte Carlo simulations and experiments. Conclusions The analytical model used in this work accurately explains the general features of the coincidence energy spectrum due to the presence of 176Lu in the scintillation crystals, as observed experimentally and with Monte Carlo simulations. This work will be useful to those research studies aimed at using the intrinsic radioactivity of LYSO crystals for transmission scans and detector calibration in coincidence mode.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Tirso Murrieta-Rodríguez
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 20-364, 01000, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | - Arnulfo Martínez-Dávalos
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 20-364, 01000, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Héctor Alva-Sánchez
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 20-364, 01000, Mexico City, Mexico.
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11
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Zhang X, Xie S, Yang J, Weng F, Xu J, Huang Q, Peng Q. A depth encoding PET detector using four-crystals-to-one-SiPM coupling and light-sharing window method. Med Phys 2019; 46:3385-3398. [PMID: 31107969 DOI: 10.1002/mp.13603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2018] [Revised: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Depth of interaction (DOI) decoding capability is of great importance for positron emission tomography (PET) requiring high resolution. In this study, we presented a novel low-cost DOI detector design with four crystals coupling to one SiPM, based on the method of rectangular light-sharing window (RLSW). A prototype detector was constructed, calibrated, and assessed using the methods of homogeneous radiation and flood map analysis. METHODS The DOI detector was constructed with a 4 × 4 array of lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystals (2.95 mm × 2.95 mm × 20 mm3 ), barium sulfate (BaSO4 ) reflectors, and optical glues. A RLSW 7 mm in height was deployed in the BaSO4 reflectors. A non-DOI detector with identical dimensions and without RLSW was also constructed for comparison. The light-output surface of the detector was air-coupled with a 4 × 4 array of SiPMs (3 mm × 3 mm2 ). The signals generated from the 16 SiPMs were read out by a custom-designed electronic system, and the signals from four adjacent 3 mm SiPMs were summed into one signal to emulate a 2 × 2 array of 6 mm SiPMs. The RLSW caused the DOI-related position shifts of the crystal spots in the flood map. A homogeneous radiation method was used to establish the transfer functions to convert the spot shifts measured from the flood map into DOI measurements. The accuracy of the DOI measurements was assessed with data acquired using the conventional collimated radiation method. RESULTS All 16 crystals are distinctly separated from each other in the flood map. Twelve crystals, including four central crystals and eight edge crystals, have the DOI capability. The full width half maximum (FWHM) of the DOI measurements of the central crystals and the edge crystals are 3.06 ± 0.08 and 3.79 ± 0.15 mm, respectively, for the configuration with four crystals coupling to one SiPM. By contrast, the FWHMs (3.98 ± 0.16 and 5.12 ± 0.38 mm, respectively) are slightly worse for the configuration with one crystal coupling to one SiPM. The average and standard deviation (STD) of the FWHM energy resolutions of the DOI detector and non-DOI detector were 10.2% ± 0.7% and 10.7% ± 1.7%, respectively. Their FWHM coincidence timing resolutions were 197.0 ± 9.6 and 206.4 ± 13.3 ps, respectively. The RLSW had no significant impact on the energy resolutions and timing resolutions of the DOI detector. CONCLUSIONS The novel four-crystals-to-one-SiPM coupling technology is a cost-efficient approach to construct high-performance detector modules with DOI capability. The methods of homogeneous radiation and flood map analysis are easy to perform and of good performance. Those methods can be adapted in the clinic PET scanners to enable the capability of DOI measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Zhang
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, China
| | - Siwei Xie
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, China
| | - Jingwu Yang
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, China
| | - Fenghua Weng
- School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, China
| | - Jianfeng Xu
- School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, China
| | - Qiu Huang
- School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiyu Peng
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
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12
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Kuang Z, Sang Z, Wang X, Fu X, Ren N, Zhang X, Zheng Y, Yang Q, Hu Z, Du J, Liang D, Liu X, Zheng H, Yang Y. Development of depth encoding small animal PET detectors using dual-ended readout of pixelated scintillator arrays with SiPMs. Med Phys 2017; 45:613-621. [PMID: 29222959 DOI: 10.1002/mp.12722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2017] [Revised: 11/22/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE The performance of current small animal PET scanners is mainly limited by the detector performance and depth encoding detectors are required to develop PET scanner to simultaneously achieve high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. Among all depth encoding PET detector approaches, dual-ended readout detector has the advantage to achieve the highest depth of interaction (DOI) resolution and spatial resolution. Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) is believed to be the photodetector of the future for PET detector due to its excellent properties as compared to the traditional photodetectors such as photomultiplier tube (PMT) and avalanche photodiode (APD). The purpose of this work is to develop high resolution depth encoding small animal PET detector using dual-ended readout of finely pixelated scintillator arrays with SiPMs. METHODS Four lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) arrays with 11 × 11 crystals and 11.6 × 11.6 × 20 mm3 outside dimension were made using ESR, Toray and BaSO4 reflectors. The LYSO arrays were read out with Hamamatsu 4 × 4 SiPM arrays from both ends. The SiPM array has a pixel size of 3 × 3 mm2 , 0.2 mm gap in between the pixels and a total active area of 12.6 × 12.6 mm2 . The flood histograms, DOI resolution, energy resolution and timing resolution of the four detector modules were measured and compared. RESULTS All crystals can be clearly resolved from the measured flood histograms of all four arrays. The BaSO4 arrays provide the best and the ESR array provides the worst flood histograms. The DOI resolution obtained from the DOI profiles of the individual crystals of the four array is from 2.1 to 2.35 mm for events with E > 350 keV. The DOI ratio variation among crystals is bigger for the BaSO4 arrays as compared to both the ESR and Toray arrays. The BaSO4 arrays provide worse detector based DOI resolution. The photopeak amplitude of the Toray array had the maximum change with depth, it provides the worst energy resolution of 21.3%. The photopeak amplitude of the BaSO4 array with 80 μm reflector almost doesn't change with depth, it provides the best energy resolution of 12.9%. A maximum timing shift of 1.37 ns to 1.61 ns among the corner and the center crystals in the four arrays was obtained due to the use of resistor network readout. A crystal based timing resolution of 0.68 ns to 0.83 ns and a detector based timing resolution of 1.26 ns to 1.45 ns were obtained for the four detector modules. CONCLUSIONS Four high resolution depth encoding small animal PET detectors were developed using dual-ended readout of pixelated scintillator arrays with SiPMs. The performance results show that those detectors can be used to build a small animal PET scanner to simultaneously achieve uniform high spatial resolution and high sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhonghua Kuang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Ziru Sang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xiaohui Wang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xin Fu
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Ning Ren
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xianming Zhang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Yunfei Zheng
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Qian Yang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Zhanli Hu
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Junwei Du
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Dong Liang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xin Liu
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Hairong Zheng
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Yongfeng Yang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
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13
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Lee BJ, Watkins RD, Chang CM, Levin CS. Low eddy current RF shielding enclosure designs for 3T MR applications. Magn Reson Med 2017; 79:1745-1752. [PMID: 28585334 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.26766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2017] [Revised: 04/14/2017] [Accepted: 05/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Magnetic resonance-compatible medical devices operate within the MR environment while benefitting from the superior anatomic information of MRI. Avoiding electromagnetic interference between such instrumentation and the MR system is crucial. In this work, various shielding configurations for positron emission tomography (PET) detectors were studied and analyzed regarding radiofrequency (RF) shielding effectiveness and gradient-induced eddy current performances. However, the results of this work apply to shielding considerations for any MR-compatible devices. METHODS Six shielding enclosure configurations with various thicknesses, patterns, and materials were designed: solid and segmented copper, phosphor bronze mesh (PBM), and carbon fiber composite (CFC). A series of tests was performed on RF shielding effectiveness and the gradient-induced eddy current. RESULTS For the shielding effectiveness, the solid copper with various thickness and PBM configurations yield significantly better shielding effectiveness (>15 dB) compared with CFC and segmented configurations. For the gradient-induced eddy current performance, the solid copper shielding configurations with different thicknesses showed significantly worse results, up to a factor of 3.89 dB, compared with the segmented copper, PBM, and the CFC configurations. CONCLUSIONS We evaluated the RF shielding effectiveness and the gradient-induced eddy current artifacts of several shielding designs, and only the PBM showed positive outcomes for both aspects. Magn Reson Med 79:1745-1752, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian J Lee
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.,Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Ronald D Watkins
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Chen-Ming Chang
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.,Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Craig S Levin
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.,Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.,Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
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14
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Xi D, Liu X, Zeng C, Liu W, Li Y, Hua Y, Mei X, Kim H, Xiao P, Kao CM, Xie Q. Modularized compact positron emission tomography detector for rapid system development. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2017; 4:011006. [PMID: 28018941 PMCID: PMC5169362 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.4.1.011006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We report the development of a modularized compact positron emission tomography (PET) detector that outputs serial streams of digital samples of PET event pulses via an Ethernet interface using the UDP/IP protocol to enable rapid configuration of a PET system by connecting multiple such detectors via a network switch to a computer. Presently, the detector is [Formula: see text] in extent (excluding I/O connectors) and contains an [Formula: see text] array of [Formula: see text] one-to-one coupled lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate/silicon photomultiplier pixels. It employs cross-wire and stripline readouts to merge the outputs of the 216 detector pixels to 24 channels. Signals at these channels are sampled using a built-in 24-ch, 4-level field programmable gate arrays-only multivoltage threshold digitizer. In the computer, software programs are implemented to analyze the digital samples to extract event information and to perform energy qualification and coincidence filtering. We have developed two such detectors. We show that all their pixels can be accurately discriminated and measure a crystal-level energy resolution of 14.4% to 19.4% and a detector-level coincidence time resolution of 1.67 ns FWHM. Preliminary imaging results suggests that a PET system based on the detectors can achieve an image resolution of [Formula: see text].
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Affiliation(s)
- Daoming Xi
- Raycan Technology Co., Ltd., Building 17, 8 Jinfeng Road, SND, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163, China
| | - Xiang Liu
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Chen Zeng
- Raycan Technology Co., Ltd., Building 17, 8 Jinfeng Road, SND, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163, China
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Wei Liu
- Raycan Technology Co., Ltd., Building 17, 8 Jinfeng Road, SND, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163, China
| | - Yanzhao Li
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Yuexuan Hua
- Raycan Technology Co., Ltd., Building 17, 8 Jinfeng Road, SND, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163, China
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Xiongze Mei
- Raycan Technology Co., Ltd., Building 17, 8 Jinfeng Road, SND, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163, China
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Heejong Kim
- University of Chicago, Department of Radiology, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC-2026, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Peng Xiao
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Chien-Min Kao
- University of Chicago, Department of Radiology, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC-2026, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Qingguo Xie
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
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15
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Wang Q, Wen J, Ravindranath B, O’Sullivan AW, Catherall D, Li K, Wei S, Komarov S, Tai YC. A compact high resolution flat panel PET detector based on the new 4-side buttable MPPC for biomedical applications. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res A 2015; 794:151-159. [PMID: 26085702 PMCID: PMC4465487 DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2015.04.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Compact high-resolution panel detectors using virtual pinhole (VP) PET geometry can be inserted into existing clinical or pre-clinical PET systems to improve regional spatial resolution and sensitivity. Here we describe a compact panel PET detector built using the new Though Silicon Via (TSV) multi-pixel photon counters (MPPC) detector. This insert provides high spatial resolution and good timing performance for multiple bio-medical applications. Because the TSV MPPC design eliminates wire bonding and has a package dimension which is very close to the MPPC's active area, it is 4-side buttable. The custom designed MPPC array (based on Hamamatsu S12641-PA-50(x)) used in the prototype is composed of 4 × 4 TSV-MPPC cells with a 4.46 mm pitch in both directions. The detector module has 16 × 16 lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystal array, with each crystal measuring 0.92 × 0.92 × 3 mm3 with 1.0 mm pitch. The outer diameter of the detector block is 16.8 × 16.8 mm2. Thirty-two such blocks will be arranged in a 4 × 8 array with 1 mm gaps to form a panel detector with detection area around 7 cm × 14 cm in the full-size detector. The flood histogram acquired with Ge-68 source showed excellent crystal separation capability with all 256 crystals clearly resolved. The detector module's mean, standard deviation, minimum (best) and maximum (worst) energy resolution were 10.19%, +/-0.68%, 8.36% and 13.45% FWHM, respectively. The measured coincidence time resolution between the block detector and a fast reference detector (around 200 ps single photon timing resolution) was 0.95 ns. When tested with Siemens Cardinal electronics the performance of the detector blocks remain consistent. These results demonstrate that the TSV-MPPC is a promising photon sensor for use in a flat panel PET insert composed of many high resolution compact detector modules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Wang
- Washington University in St Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Jie Wen
- Washington University in St Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | | | | | | | - Ke Li
- Washington University in St Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Shouyi Wei
- Washington University in St Louis, MO 63110, USA
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