A true singles list-mode data acquisition system for a small animal PET scanner with independent crystal readout

McElroy, D.P.; Hoose, M; Pimpl, W.; Spanoudaki, Virginia; Schuler, Thomas; Ziegler, Sibylle

doi:10.1088/0031-9155/50/14/009

Cited by 47 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Phase difference is measured with a resolution of 2π/N , so N represents a trade-off between time resolution and measurement time. Moreover, it is advantageous to make N a power of two, in order to simplify the implementation of the modulus operation in (8).…”

Section: Phase Measurement For Fine Synchronizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a usual PET system electronics setup, as shown in Fig. 1 (left), DAQ boards and higher-level digital processors are integrated with a common backplane, and thus physically separated from the detectors and front-end electronics [6]- [8]. However, the described trends naturally carry a tendency to integrate the increasingly simplified analog front-end, ADCs and first stages of digital processing together on the same circuit board.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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PET System Synchronization and Timing Resolution Using High-Speed Data Links

Aliaga

Monzó

Spaggiari

et al. 2011

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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Abstract-Current PET systems with fully digital trigger rely on early digitization of detector signals and the use of digital processors, usually FPGAs, for recognition of valid gamma events on single detectors. Timestamps are assigned and later used for coincidence analysis. In order to maintain a decent timing resolution for events detected on different acquisition boards, it is necessary that local timestamps on different FPGAs be synchronized. Sub-nanosecond accuracy is mandatory if we want this effect to be negligible on overall timing resolution. This is usually achieved by connecting all boards to a common backplane with a precise clock delivery network; however, this approach forces a rigid structure on the whole PET system and may pose scalability problems.As an alternative, we propose a backplane-less PET system architecture in which DAQ boards are connected by single fullduplex high-speed data links. Data encoding with embedded clock is used to correct frequency differences between local oscillators. Timestamp synchronization between FPGAs with clock period resolution is maintained by means of data transfers in a way similar to the IEEE 1588 standard. Finer resolution is achieved by reflection of received clocks and phase difference measurement on the transmitter. It is crucial that data transceivers have very low latency uncertainty in order to achieve the desired timestamp accuracy; we discuss the availability of off-the-shelf hardware for these implementations.

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Section: Phase Measurement For Fine Synchronizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PET System Synchronization and Timing Resolution Using High-Speed Data Links

Aliaga

Monzó

Spaggiari

et al. 2011

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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“…However, a drawback of LSO is its intrinsic background radioactivity due to the 176 Lu, which can increase the singles counting rate. Although a one-to-one coupling of scintillator and light detector would be advantageous to improve the counting rate performance, energy, and timing resolution of PET (21,27,28), clinical PET scanners use a light-sharing readout that reduces the number of electronic channels, which in turn reduces PET production costs. Today's PET detector arrangements are still based on Anger readout (10,(29)(30)(31)(32) or on a block detector principle (Fig.…”

Section: Pet Advances In Pet Detector Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Latest Advances in Molecular Imaging Instrumentation

Pichler¹,

Wehrl²,

Judenhofer³

2008

J Nucl Med

193

110

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This review concentrates on the latest advances in molecular imaging technology, including PET, MRI, and optical imaging. In PET, significant improvements in tumor detection and image resolution have been achieved by introducing new scintillation materials, iterative image reconstruction, and correction methods. These advances enabled the first clinical scanners capable of time-of-flight detection and incorporating point-spread-function reconstruction to compensate for depth-of-interaction effects. In the field of MRI, the most important developments in recent years have mainly been MRI systems with higher field strengths and improved radiofrequency coil technology. Hyperpolarized imaging, functional MRI, and MR spectroscopy provide molecular information in vivo. A special focus of this review article is multimodality imaging and, in particular, the emerging field of combined PET/MRI. PETi s a high-performance imaging technology that can image the whole-body distribution of positron-emitting biomarkers with high sensitivity. The invention of PET dates back more than 30 y. However, the acceptance of PET as a routine clinical diagnostic tool has been hampered by the need for an on-site cyclotron and a radiochemistry unit for the production of the short-lived radiotracers (1-7). With the availability of commercial radiopharmacies that supply PET probes and with the relatively broad insurance coverage for a variety of clinical indications, the number of PET centers now totals more than 2,000 worldwide.Major technologic milestones in the development of PET include the discovery of faster and brighter scintillators such as lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO), gadolinium oxyorthosilicate, and lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate. Furthermore, the continuing development of the detectors, progressing from one-to-one scintillator-to-photomultiplier-tube (PMT) coupling (8,9) to advanced block and Anger readout schemes, helps to limit the costs of a PET scanner by providing a multiplexed readout and reduced electronic channels (10-13).The use of faster scintillators enabled the transition from 2-dimensional data acquisitions for whole-body PET, using lead or tungsten collimators as septa (14-16), to 3-dimensional (3D) acquisitions (17). However, approximately an 8-fold increase in detection sensitivity is accompanied by an increased fraction of random and scattered photon events leading to degradation of image quality if not corrected during image reconstruction (18). This degradation effectively reduces the increase in sensitivity from a factor of 8 to approximately 5-fold. To achieve high-quality and quantitative PET data, various image reconstruction techniques have evolved (19). One simple approach is filtered backprojection, which is computationally fast but results in poor image quality if the count statistics of the available PET data are inadequate. Better image quality and improved spatial resolution are achieved by iterative methods such as ordered-subset expectation maximization or maximumlikelihood expectation maximiza...

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“…19A) [51]. Although this method provides DOI information intrinsically, the large numbers of photo-sensors required increase development and manufacturing costs.…”

Section: Discrete Doi Encodingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical Advances in Current PET and Hybrid Imaging Systems

Lee¹

2010

TONMEDJ

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Abstract:The continuing efforts of investigators to achieve the best physical and clinical performances from PET (positron emission tomography) and related hybrid cameras (PET/CT and PET/MRI) have led to remarkable technical advances in hardware and software.Time of flight (TOF) information measurement, which has been enabled thanks to the invention of fast, heavy crystals and advances in fast light detection sensors and readout electronics, is used to obtain the PET images of better quality and lesion-detection performance. Statistical reconstruction with resolution recovery and measurements of depth of interaction (DOI) are the useful software-and hardware-wise approaches for enhancing the spatial resolution of reconstructed PET images. These technical advances along with an expansive increase in the number of PET and PET/CT examinations performed are facilitating the widespread use of PET scanners with specific detector structures and arrangements for particular applications or organs. Combined multimodal imaging systems are also in the development mainstream of these PET systems.In this paper, these important technologies (TOF measurements, statistical reconstruction with resolution recovery, DOI detectors, and application-specific PET cameras) that have made major contributions to advances in state-of-the-art clinical and preclinical PET and hybrid systems are reviewed.

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A true singles list-mode data acquisition system for a small animal PET scanner with independent crystal readout

Cited by 47 publications

References 15 publications

PET System Synchronization and Timing Resolution Using High-Speed Data Links

PET System Synchronization and Timing Resolution Using High-Speed Data Links

Latest Advances in Molecular Imaging Instrumentation

Technical Advances in Current PET and Hybrid Imaging Systems

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