Silicon photomultiplier signal readout and multiplexing techniques for positron emission tomography: a review

Abstract

In recent years, silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) is replacing the photomultiplier tube (PMT) in positron emission tomography (PET) systems due to its superior properties, such as fast single-photon timing response, small gap between adjacent photosensitive pixels in the array, and insensitivity to magnetic fields. One of the technical challenges when developing SiPM-based PET systems or other position-sensitive radiation detectors is the large number of output channels coming from the SiPM array. Therefore, various signal multiplexing methods have been proposed to reduce the number of output channels and the load on the subsequent data acquisition (DAQ) system. However, the large PN-junction capacitance and quenching resistance of the SiPM yield undesirable resistance–capacitance delay when multiple SiPMs are combined, which subsequently causes the accumulation of dark counts and signal fluctuation of SiPMs. Therefore, without proper SiPM signal handling and processing, the SiPMs may yield worse timing characteristics than the PMTs. This article reviews the evolution of signal readout and multiplexing methods for the SiPM. In this review, we focus primarily on analog electronics for SiPM signal multiplexing, which allows for the reduction of DAQ channels required for the SiPM-based position-sensitive detectors used in PET and other radiation detector systems. Although the applications of most technologies described in the article are not limited to PET systems, the review highlights efforts to improve the physical performance (e.g. spatial, energy, and timing resolutions) of PET detectors and systems.

Organ-Specific Positron Emission Tomography Scanners for Breast Imaging: Comparison between the Performances of Prior and Novel Models

“…The factors that influence the PVE of a PET system are numerous, and the combined result of these factors determines the inherent spatial resolution. Among them, the use of semiconductors in the detector and the improvement of position discrimination with TOF were considered to have significantly contributed to the improvement of spatial resolution by more accurately identifying the crystal position and enabling TOF information to be obtained [ 24 ]. As a result, SiPM-based TOF-PET has higher resolution than PMT-PET despite its larger aperture.…”

A preclinical positron emission tomography (PET) and electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) hybrid system: PET detector module

“…2 a two-tiered readout that employs both resistive network (RN) and stripline (SL) is devised. The RN, whose principle and design are discussed in [15]- [17], is a popular method for merging an array of SiPM outputs into four signals.…”

Evaluation of a modular all-in-one high-resolution PET detector and readout electronics setup

“…It has been reported that light sharing is an effective approach in comparison to an individual readout scheme to enhance scalability, decrease design complexity and manufacturing costs of PET systems. In order to further reduce the readout channels multiplexing schemes such as charge, digital, polarity, frequency, and time modulation-based multiplexing have been reported (Park et al 2022). However, in this work no further multiplexing was implemented as the used AISC can individually handle large numbers of SiPM signals with a small footprint and low power consumption.…”