Possible use of a BGO array for neutron stimulated emission computed tomography by summing adjacent signals

Abstract

Neutron stimulated emission computed tomography (NSECT) is a new approach for biological spectroscopy and imaging. Since the gamma-ray photons emitted from stimulated element have energies from 100 keV to about 6 MeV, previous reports have proposed that the projection path can be defined by the neutron beam. In this paper, another possible method has been applied and the performance presented through simulations. When using signals from a single BGO crystal it is impossible to achieve good energy resolution for such high-energy photons. When summing additional signals from adjacent crystals, the energy spectrum becomes much better. Using an energy window with energy resolution of 90 keV, an average intrinsic spatial resolution of 3.938 mm FWHM is obtained.