Performance studies of a depth encoding multicrystal detector for PET

Abstract

A bs tra c tWe report the results of design studies for a multicrystal detector with the capacity to encode the Depth-Of-Interaction (DOI). These stiidies are based on a simulation that treats the interactions of y-rays and tracks scintillation photons in state-of-the-art position encoding P E T detectors. The simulation was used to study the impact of a simple modification to the standard surface treatment of the EXACT FIR PLUS block that induces a significant sensitivity of the photopeak pulse height upon the DO1 of 511 keV y-rays. The depth resolution achieved with the altered block as well as the impact of the modification on its energy and position resolutions are presented. The results show a depth resolution of 6 to 7 mm for the inner crystals of the modified block. The center crystals show the largest increase in event position miscoding with 16% less encoding accuracy in the modified block compared to the original one