First characterization of a digital SiPM based time-of-flight PET detector with 1 mm spatial resolution

Seifert, Stefan; Lei, Gerben van der; Dam, Herman T. van; Schaart, Dennis R.

doi:10.1088/0031-9155/58/9/3061

Cited by 91 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Such configuration would enhance photon sensitivity by increasing the system's geometric detection efficiency [4], and improve its spatial resolution. A number of multi-resolution PET concepts have been investigated by several groups, utilizing either semiconductor materials such as silicon [5][6][7][8][9] and cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) [10,11] or scintillators such as cerium-doped lutetium (-yttrium) oxyorthosilicate (L(Y)SO) [12][13][14][15][16], usually read out by silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a high resolution silicon PET insert module

Grkovski

Brzezinski²,

Cindro

et al. 2015

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tConventional PET systems can be augmented with additional detectors placed in close proximity of the region of interest. We developed a high resolution PET insert module to evaluate the added benefit of such a combination. The insert module consists of two back-to-back 1 mm thick silicon sensors, each segmented into 1040 1 mm 2 pads arranged in a 40 by 26 array. A set of 16 VATAGP7.1 ASICs and a custom assembled data acquisition board were used to read out the signal from the insert module.Data were acquired in slice (2D) geometry with a Jaszczak phantom (rod diameters of 1.2-4.8 mm) filled with 18 F-FDG and the images were reconstructed with ML-EM method. Both data with full and limited angular coverage from the insert module were considered and three types of coincidence events were combined.The ratio of high-resolution data that substantially improves quality of the reconstructed image for the region near the surface of the insert module was estimated to be about 4%. Results from our previous studies suggest that such ratio could be achieved at a moderate technological expense by using an equivalent of two insert modules (an effective sensor thickness of 4 mm).

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a high resolution silicon PET insert module

Grkovski

Brzezinski²,

Cindro

et al. 2015

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The side-readout configuration achieved a better energy resolution (especially at higher temperatures) compared to the monolithic designs likely due to lower accumulation of dark counts during signal integration. 9,35 Also, the additional degradation of timing resolution at higher trigger levels due to light spread that occurs in monolithic crystals, while also evident in the side-readout configuration (Fig. 7), is largely mitigated for the latter due to coupling to a much smaller number of photosensors (note that this degradation is nonexistent only when triggered at the first photon).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Side readout of long scintillation crystal elements with digital SiPM for TOF‐DOI PET

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: Side readout of scintillation light from crystal elements in positron emission tomography (PET) is an alternative to conventional end-readout configurations, with the benefit of being able to provide accurate depth-of-interaction (DOI) information and good energy resolution while achieving excellent timing resolution required for time-of-flight PET. This paper explores different readout geometries of scintillation crystal elements with the goal of achieving a detector that simultaneously achieves excellent timing resolution, energy resolution, spatial resolution, and photon sensitivity. Methods: The performance of discrete LYSO scintillation elements of different lengths read out from the end/side with digital silicon photomultipliers (dSiPMs) has been assessed. Results: Compared to 3 × 3 × 20 mm 3 LYSO crystals read out from their ends with a coincidence resolving time (CRT) of 162 ± 6 ps FWHM and saturated energy spectra, a side-readout configuration achieved an excellent CRT of 144 ± 2 ps FWHM after correcting for timing skews within the dSiPM and an energy resolution of 11.8% ± 0.2% without requiring energy saturation correction. Using a maximum likelihood estimation method on individual dSiPM pixel response that corresponds to different 511 keV photon interaction positions, the DOI resolution of this 3 × 3 × 20 mm 3 crystal side-readout configuration was computed to be 0.8 mm FWHM with negligible artifacts at the crystal ends. On the other hand, with smaller 3 × 3 × 5 mm 3 LYSO crystals that can also be tiled/stacked to provide DOI information, a timing resolution of 134 ± 6 ps was attained but produced highly saturated energy spectra. Conclusions: The energy, timing, and DOI resolution information extracted from the side of long scintillation crystal elements coupled to dSiPM have been acquired for the first time. The authors conclude in this proof of concept study that such detector configuration has the potential to enable outstanding detector performance in terms of timing, energy, and DOI resolution. C 2014 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. [http://dx

show abstract

“…In previous research, it has been shown that the spatial resolution of monolithic scintillator detectors depends on the position of interaction and usually degrades towards the edges of the crystal [11], [14], [24]. This problem was investigated for fan-beam calibration and compared with a standard position estimation method.…”

Section: Data Processing and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, several research groups have obtained spatial resolutions better than 2 mm FWHM in crystals with a thickness of 10 mmmm [10]- [12], while coincidence resolving times (CRT) well below 200 ps FWHM have recently been achieved with 10 mm and 20 mm thick LSO:Ce(Ca) crystals [13]. Moreover, monolithic scintillator detectors provide good energy resolution [11], [14], show better sensitivity compared to high-resolution crystal matrices due to the absence of dead space, and can estimate the depth of interaction (DOI) from the shape of the light distribution [15]- [20]. In fact, the main advantage of detectors based on continuous crystals is that they can provide all of these results simultaneously, whereas detectors based on pixelated crystals typically require a tradeoff between spatial resolution on the one hand and sensitivity, time resolution and energy resolution on the other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Experimental Validation of an Efficient Fan-Beam Calibration Procedure for <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$k$</tex></formula>-Nearest Neighbor Position Estimation in Monolithic Scintillator Detectors

Borghi

Tabacchini

Seifert

et al. 2015

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Monolithic scintillator detectors can achieve excellent spatial resolution and coincidence resolving time. However, their practical use for positron emission tomography (PET) and other applications in the medical imaging field is still limited due to drawbacks of the different methods used to estimate the position of interaction. Common statistical methods for example require the collection of an extensive dataset of reference events with a narrow pencil beam aimed at a fine grid of reference positions. Such procedures are time consuming and not straightforwardly implemented in systems composed of many detectors. Here, we experimentally demonstrate for the first time a new calibration procedure for -nearest neighbor ( -NN) position estimation that utilizes reference data acquired with a fan beam. The procedure is tested on two detectors consisting of mm mm mm and mm mm mm monolithic, Ca-codoped LSO:Ce crystals and digital photon counter (DPC) arrays. For both detectors, the spatial resolution and the bias obtained with the new method are found to be practically the same as those obtained with the previously used method based on pencil-beam irradiation, while the calibration time is reduced by a factor of . Specifically, a FWHM of mm and a FWTM of mm were obtained using the fan-beam method with the 10 mm crystal, whereas a FWHM of mm and a FWTM of mm were achieved with the 20 mm crystal. Using a fan beam made with a MBq point-source and a tungsten slit collimator with 0.5 mm aperture, the total measurement time needed to acquire the reference dataset was hours for the thinner crystal and hours for the thicker one.Index Terms-Calibration, fan beam, monolithic scintillator detector, nearest neighbor method, PET, positron emission tomography.

show abstract

First characterization of a digital SiPM based time-of-flight PET detector with 1 mm spatial resolution

Cited by 91 publications

References 23 publications

Evaluation of a high resolution silicon PET insert module

Evaluation of a high resolution silicon PET insert module

Side readout of long scintillation crystal elements with digital SiPM for TOF‐DOI PET

Experimental Validation of an Efficient Fan-Beam Calibration Procedure for <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$k$</tex></formula>-Nearest Neighbor Position Estimation in Monolithic Scintillator Detectors

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About