Abstract
An individual readout of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) would enhance the performance of modern positron emission tomography (PET) systems. However, as it difficult to achieve in practice, a multiplexing readout of SiPM arrays could be performed instead. In this study, we characterized the performance of three PET detector modules utilizing three different SiPM models with active areas of 3 × 3, 4 × 4, and 6 × 6 mm2. Each SiPM array was coupled with a 4 × 4 LYSO crystal block. For SiPM multiplexing, we used a discretized positioning circuit to obtain position and energy information, and applied a first-order capacitive high-pass filter to enhance the time-of-flight measurement capability of the PET detector. The energy performance was similar among the three different SiPM arrays, with an energy resolution of 10%–11%. The best timing performance was achieved with the SiPM array with an active area of 6 × 6 mm2, which yielded a coincidence timing resolution (CTR) value of 401 ps FWHM when an analog high-pass filter was applied. We expect that, in combination with high-performance SiPM multiplexing techniques, the SiPM array with an active area of 6 × 6 mm2 can provide a cost-effective solution for developing a whole-body PET scanner.
Highlights
Modern positron emission tomography (PET) scanners are constructed with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) that are coupled to fast and bright scintillation crystals [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
A multiplexing readout of SiPM arrays that achieves minimal performance degradation of PET detectors is a useful approach for developing PET systems [10,11,12,13,14,15,16]
The aim of this study was to characterize the performance of large-area SiPM arrays with different active areas (i.e., 3 × 3, 4 × 4, and 6 × 6 mm2) and demonstrate the usefulness of the 6 mm SiPM for cost-effective whole-body PET applications
Summary
Modern positron emission tomography (PET) scanners are constructed with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) that are coupled to fast and bright scintillation crystals [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. An individual readout of SiPMs could result in the best performance of PET systems. It is technically challenging to individually handle all the output channels from SiPM arrays because of the high granularity of SiPMs, especially at the level of a full-ring PET system. A multiplexing readout of SiPM arrays that achieves minimal performance degradation of PET detectors is a useful approach for developing PET systems [10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. To effectively detect high-energy photons, a SiPM array that features a pixel size of 3 to 6 mm is widely utilized in many applications. Along with a light-sharing crystal array with a small crystal size, the 6 mm SiPM can provide a 3–4 mm spatial resolution suitable for whole-body PET applications. The printed circuit board (PCB) design of PET electronics can be further simplified by using the 6 mm SiPM rather than the 3 and 4 mm SiPMs as fewer SiPM elements would be needed to cover the same photosensitive area
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