Depth Of Interaction Resolution Research Articles

Virtual cylindrical PET for efficient DOI image reconstruction with sub-millimetre resolution.


Image reconstruction in high resolution, narrow bore PET scanners with depth of interaction (DOI) capability presents a substantial computational challenge due to the very high sampling in detector and image space. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of a virtual cylinder in reducing the number of lines of response (LOR) for DOI-based reconstruction in high resolution PET systems while maintaining uniform sub-millimetre spatial resolution.
Approach:
Virtual geometry was investigated using the awake animal mousePET as a high resolution test case. Using GATE, we simulated the physical scanner and three virtual cylinder implementations with detector size 0.74 mm, 0.47 mm and 0.36 mm (vPET1, vPET2 and vPET3, respectively). The virtual cylinder condenses physical LORs stemming from various crystal pairs and DOI combinations, and which intersect a single virtual detector pair, into a single virtual LOR. Quantitative comparisons of the point spread function (PSF) at various positions within the field of view (FOV) were compared for reconstructions based on the vPET implementations and the physical scanner. We also assessed the impact of the anisotropic PSFs by reconstructing images of a micro Derenzo phantom.
Main results:
All virtual cylinder implementations achieved LOR data compression of at least 50% for DOI PET reconstruction. PSF anisotropy in radial and tangential profiles was chiefly influenced by DOI resolution and only marginally by virtual detector size. Spatial degradation introduced by virtual cylinders was most prominent in the axial profile. All virtual cylinders achieved sub-millimetre volumetric resolution across the FOV when 6-bin DOI reconstructions (3.3 mm DOI resolution) were performed. Using vPET2 with 6 DOI bins yielded nearly identical reconstructions to the non-virtual case in the transaxial plane, with an LOR compression ratio of 86%. Resolution modelling significantly reduced the effects of the asymmetric PSF arising from the non-cylindrical geometry of mousePET.
Significance:
Narrow bore and high resolution PET scanners require detectors with DOI capability, leading to computationally demanding reconstructions due to the large number of LORs. In this study, we show that DOI PET reconstruction with 50-86% LOR compression is possible using virtual cylinders while maintaining sub-millimetre spatial resolution throughout the FOV. The methodology and analysis can be extended to other scanners with DOI capability intended for high resolution PET imaging.&#xD.

Depth-encoding using optical photon TOF in a prism-PET detector with tapered crystals.

High-resolution brain positron emission tomography (PET) scanner is emerging as a significant and transformative non-invasive neuroimaging tool to advance neuroscience research as well as improve diagnosis and treatment in neurology and psychiatry. Time-of-flight (TOF) and depth-of-interaction (DOI) information provide markedly higher PET imaging performance by increasing image signal-to-noise ratio and mitigating spatial resolution degradation due to parallax error, respectively. PET detector modules that utilize light sharing can inherently carry DOI information from the multiple timestamps that are generated per gamma event. The difference between two timestamps that are triggered by scintillation photons traveling in opposite directions signifies the event's depth-dependent optical photon TOF (oTOF). However, light leak at the crystal-readout interface substantially degrades the resolution of this oTOF-based depthencoding. We demonstrate the feasibility of oTOF-based depth encoding by mitigating light leak in single-ended-readout Prism-PET detector modules using tapered crystals. Minimizing light leak also improved both energy-based DOI and coincidence timingresolutions. The tapered Prism-PET module consists of a 16 16 array of 1.5 1.5 20 lutetium yttrium oxyorthosillicate (LYSO) crystals, which are tapered down to 1.2 1.2 at the crystal-readout interface. The LYSO array couples 4-to-1 to an 8 8 array of 3 3 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) pixels on the tapered end and to a segmented prismatoid light guide array on the opposite end. Performance of tapered and non-tapered Prism-PET detectors was experimentally characterized and evaluated by measuring flood histogram, energy resolution, energy-, and oTOF-based DOI resolutions, and coincidence timing resolution. Sensitivities of scanners using different Prism-PET detector designs were simulated using Geant4 application for tomographic emission (GATE). For the tapered (non-tapered) Prism-PET module, the measured full width at half maximum (FWHM) energy, timing, energy-based DOI, and oTOF-based DOI resolutions were 8.88 (11.18)%, 243 (286)ps, 2.35 (3.18)mm, and 5.42 (13.87)mm, respectively. The scanner sensitivities using non-tapered and tapered crystals, and 10 rings of detector modules, were simulated to be 30.9 and 29.5kcps/MBq,respectively. The tapered Prism-PET module with minimized light leak enabled the first experimental report of oTOF-based depth encoding at the detector module level. It also enabled the utilization of thinner (i.e., 0.1mm) inter-crystal spacing with barium sulfate as the reflector while also improving energy-based DOI and timingresolutions.

NaI gamma camera performance for high energies: Effects of crystal thickness, photomultiplier tube geometry and light guide thickness.

Gamma camera imaging, including single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), is crucial for research, diagnostics, and radionuclide therapy. Gamma cameras are predominantly based on arrays of photon multipliers tubes (PMTs) that read out NaI(Tl) scintillation crystals. In this way, standard gamma cameras can localize ɣ-rays with energies typically ranging from 30 to 360keV. In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest towards gamma imaging outside this conventional clinical energy range, for example, for theragnostic applications and preclinical multi-isotope positron emission tomography (PET) and PET-SPECT. However, standard gamma cameras are typically equipped with 9.5mm thick NaI(Tl) crystals which can result in limited sensitivity for these higher energies. Here we investigate to what extent thicker scintillators can improve the photopeak sensitivity for higher energy isotopes while attempting to maintain spatial resolution. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we analyzed multiple PMT-based configurations of gamma detectors with monolithic NaI (Tl) crystals of 20 and 40mm thickness. Optimized light guide thickness together with 2-inch round, 3-inch round, 60×60 mm2 square, and 76×76 mm2 square PMTs were tested. For each setup, we assessed photopeak sensitivity, energy resolution, spatial, and depth-of-interaction (DoI) resolution for conventional (140keV) and high (511keV) energy ɣ using a maximum-likelihood algorithm. These metrics were compared to those of a "standard" 9.5mm-thick crystal detector with 3-inch round PMTs. Estimated photopeak sensitivities for 511keV were 27% and 53% for 20 and 40mm thick scintillators, which is respectively, 2.2 and 4.4 times higher than for 9.5mm thickness. In most cases, energy resolution benefits from using square PMTs instead of round ones, regardless of their size. Lateral and DoI spatial resolution are best for smaller PMTs (2-inch round and 60×60 mm2 square) which outperform the more cost-effective larger PMT setups (3-inch round and 76×76 mm2 square), while PMT layout and shape have negligible (<10%) effect on resolution. Best spatial resolution was obtained with 60×60 mm2 PMTs; for 140keV, lateral resolution was 3.5mm irrespective of scintillator thickness, improving to 2.8 and 2.9mm for 511keV with 20 and 40mm thick crystals, respectively. Using the 3-inch round PMTs, lateral resolutions of 4.5 and 3.9mm for 140keV and of 3.5 and 3.7mm for 511keV were obtained with 20 and 40mm thick crystals respectively, indicating a moderate performance degradation compared to the 3.5 and 2.9mm resolution obtained by the standard detector for 140 and 511keV. Additionally, DoI resolution for 511keV was 7.0 and 5.6mm with 20 and 40mm crystals using 60×60 mm2 square PMTs, while with 3-inch round PMTs 12.1 and 5.9mm were obtained. Depending on PMT size and shape, the use of thicker scintillator crystals can substantially improve detector sensitivity at high gamma energies, while spatial resolution is slightly improved or mildly degraded compared to standard crystals.

Evaluation of monolithic crystal detector with dual-ended readout utilizing multiplexing method

Objective. Monolithic crystal detectors are increasingly being applied in positron emission tomography (PET) devices owing to their excellent depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolution capabilities and high detection efficiency. In this study, we constructed and evaluated a dual-ended readout monolithic crystal detector based on a multiplexing method. Approach. We employed two 12 × 12 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays for readout, and the signals from the 12 × 12 array were merged into 12 X and 12 Y channels using channel multiplexing. In 2D reconstruction, three methods based on the centre of gravity (COG) were compared, and the concept of thresholds was introduced. Furthermore, a light convolutional neural network (CNN) was employed for testing. To enhance depth localization resolution, we proposed a method by utilizing the mutual information from both ends of the SiPMs. The source width and collimation effect were simulated using GEANT4, and the intrinsic spatial resolution was separated from the measured values. Main results. At an operational voltage of 29 V for the SiPM, an energy resolution of approximately 12.5 % was achieved. By subtracting a 0.8 % threshold from the total energy in every channel, a 2D spatial resolution of approximately 0.90 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) can be obtained. Furthermore, a higher level of resolution, approximately 0.80 mm FWHM, was achieved using a CNN, with some alleviation of edge effects. With the proposed DOI method, a significant 1.36 mm FWHM average DOI resolution can be achieved. Additionally, it was found that polishing and black coating on the crystal surface yielded smaller edge effects compared to a rough surface with a black coating. Significance. The introduction of a threshold in COG method and a dual-ended readout scheme can lead to excellent spatial resolution for monolithic crystal detectors, which can help to develop PET systems with both high sensitivity and high spatial resolution.

DOI- and TOF-capable PET array detector using double-ended light readout and stripline-based row and column electronic readout.

We investigate a highly multiplexing readout for depth-of-interaction (DOI) and time-of-flight PET detector consisting of an N×N crystals whose light outputs at the front and back ends are detected by using silicon photomultipliers (SiPM). The front N×N SiPM array is read by using a stripline (SL) configured to support discrimination of the row position of the signal-producing crystal. The back N×N SiPM array is similarly read by an SL for column discrimination. Hence, the detector has only four outputs. We built 4×4 and 8×8 detector modules (DM) by using 3.0×3.0×20 mm3 lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicates. The outputs were sampled and processed offline. For both DMs, crystal discrimination was successful. For the 4×4 DM, we obtained an average energy resolution (ER) of 14.1%, an average DOI resolution of 2.5 mm, a non DOI-corrected coincidence resolving time (CRT), measured in coincidence with a single-pixel reference detector, of about 495 ps. For the 8×8 DM, the average ER, average DOI resolution and average CRT were 16.4%, 2.9 mm, and 641 ps, respectively. We identified the intercrystal scattering as a probable cause for the CRT deterioration when the DM was increased from 4×4 to 8×8.

A multi-resolution TOF-DOI detector for human brain dedicated PET scanner

Objective. We propose a single-ended readout, multi-resolution detector design that can achieve high spatial, depth-of-interaction (DOI), and time-of-flight (TOF) resolutions, as well as high sensitivity for human brain-dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) scanners. Approach. The detector comprised two layers of LYSO crystal arrays and a lightguide in between. The top (gamma ray entrance) layer consisted of a 16 × 16 array of 1.53 × 1.53 × 6 mm3 LYSO crystals for providing high spatial resolution. The bottom layer consisted of an 8 × 8 array of 3.0 × 3.0 × 15 mm3 LYSO crystals that were one-to-one coupled to an 8 × 8 multipixel photon counter (MPPC) array for providing high TOF resolution. The 2 mm thick lightguide introduces inter-crystal light sharing that causes variations of the light distribution patterns for high DOI resolution. The detector was read out by a PETsys TOFPET2 application-specific integrated circuit. Main result. The top and bottom layers were distinguished by a convolutional neural network with 97% accuracy. All crystals in the top and bottom layers were resolved. The inter-crystal scatter (ICS) events in the bottom layer were identified, and the measured average DOI resolution of the bottom layer was 4.1 mm. The coincidence time resolution (CTR) for the top–top, top-bottom, and bottom–bottom coincidences was 476 ps, 405 ps, and 298 ps, respectively. When ICS events were excluded from the bottom layer, the CTR of the bottom–bottom coincidence was 277 ps. Significance. The top layer of the proposed two-layer detector achieved a high spatial resolution and the bottom layer achieved a high TOF resolution. Together with its high DOI resolution and detection efficiency, the proposed detector is well suited for next-generation high-performance brain-dedicated PET scanners.

Characterization of organic glass scintillator bars and their potential for a hybrid neutron/gamma ray imaging system for proton radiotherapy range verification

For accurate and simultaneous imaging of fast neutrons (FNs) and prompt gamma rays (PGs) produced during proton therapy, the selection of a highly performant detector material is crucial. In this work, a promising candidate material known as organic glass scintillator (OGS) is characterized for this task. To this end, a precisely-timed source of neutrons and Bremsstrahlung radiation produced by the nELBE facility was used to study the light output and neutron/gamma ray pulse shape discrimination (PSD) properties of a 1 × 1 × 20 cm3 OGS bar with double-sided readout. Furthermore, the energy, timing, and depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolutions of 1 × 1 × 10 cm3 and 1 × 1 × 20 cm3 OGS and EJ-200 bars were characterized with radioactive sources. For electron-equivalent energies above 0.5 MeVee, OGS was found to have excellent PSD capabilities (figure-of-merit above 1.27), energy resolution (below 12%), coincident time resolution (below 500 ps), and DOI resolution (below 10 mm). This work establishes the data analysis methods required for hybrid FN/PG imaging using OGS, and demonstrates the materials' excellent performance for this application.

Effect of depth of interaction resolution on the spatial resolution of SIAT aPET

Objective. Spatial resolution is a crucial parameter for a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. The spatial resolution of a high-resolution small animal PET scanner is significantly influenced by the effect of depth of interaction (DOI) uncertainty. The aim of this work is to investigate the impact of DOI resolution on the spatial resolution of a small animal PET scanner called SIAT aPET and determine the required DOI resolution to achieve nearly uniform spatial resolution within the field of view (FOV). Approach. The SIAT aPET detectors utilize 1.0 × 1.0 × 20 mm3 crystals, with an average DOI resolution of ∼2 mm. A default number of 16 DOI bins are used during data acquisition. First, a Na-22 point source was scanned in the center of the axial FOV with different radial offsets. Then, a Derenzo phantom was scanned at radial offsets of 0 and 15 mm in the center axial FOV. The measured DOI information was rebinned to 1, 2, 4 and 8 DOI bins to mimic different DOI resolutions of the detectors during image reconstruction. Main results. Significant artifacts were observed in images obtained from both the point source and Derenzo phantom when using only one DOI bin. When accurate measurement of DOI is not achieved, degradation in spatial resolution is more pronounced in the radial direction compared to tangential and axial directions for large radial offsets. The radial spatial resolutions at a 30 mm radial offset are 5.05, 2.62, 1.24, 0.86 and 0.78 mm when using 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 DOI bins, respectively. The axial spatial resolution improved from ∼1.3 to 0.7 mm as the number of DOI bins increased from 1 to 16 at radial offsets from 0 to 25 mm. Two DOI bins are required to obtain images without significant artifacts. The required DOI resolution is about three times the crystal width of SIAT aPET to achieve a uniform submillimeter spatial resolution within the central 60 mm FOV and resolve the 1 mm rods of the Derenzo phantom at both positions.

A time-based double-sided readout concept of 100 mm LYSO:Ce,Ca fibres for future axial TOF-PET

BackgroundPositron emission tomography (PET) requires a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to improve image quality, with time-of-flight (TOF) being an effective way to boost the SNR. However, the scanner sensitivity and resolution must be maintained. The use of axially aligned 100-mm LYSO:Ce,Ca scintillation crystals with double-sided readout has the potential of ground-breaking TOF and sensitivity, while reducing parallax errors through depth-of-interaction (DOI) estimation, and also allowing a reduction in the number of readout channels required, resulting in cost benefits. Due to orientation, these fibres may also facilitate the integration of TOF-PET with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in hybrid imaging systems. The challenge of achieving a good spatial resolution with such long axial fibres is directly related to the achievable TOF resolution. In this study, the timing performance and DOI resolution of emerging high-performance materials were investigated to assess the merits of this approach in organ-dedicated or total-body/large-scale PET imaging systems.MethodsLYSO:Ce,Ca scintillation fibres of 20 mm and 100 mm length were tested in various operating and readout configurations to determine the best achievable coincidence time resolution (CTR) and DOI resolution. The tests were performed using state-of-the-art high-frequency (HF) readout and commercially available silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) from Broadcom Inc.ResultsFor the 100-mm fibre, an average CTR performance of 137 pm 1 ps FWHM and an average depth-of-interaction resolution within the fibre of 12.3 pm 0.5 mm FWHM could be obtained. The 20-mm fibre showed a sub-100 ps CTR of 98 pm 1 ps FWHM and a fibre resolution of 8.5 pm 0.2 mm FWHM in the double-sided readout configuration.ConclusionWith modern SiPMs and crystals, a double-sided readout of long fibres can achieve excellent timing resolution and field-advancing TOF resolution, outperforming commercial PET systems. With 100-mm fibres, an electronic channel reduction of about a factor 2.5 is inherent, with larger reduction factors conceivable, which can lead to lower production costs. The spatial resolution was shown to be limited in the axial direction with 12 mm, but is defined to 3 mm in all other directions. Recent SiPM and scintillator developments are expected to improve on the time and spatial resolution to be investigated in future prototypes.

Interleaved signal multiplexing readout in depth encoding Prism-PET detectors.

Given the large number of readout pixels in clinical positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, signal multiplexing is an indispensable feature to reduce scanner complexity, power consumption, heat output, andcost. In this paper, we introduce interleaved multiplexing (iMux) scheme that utilizes the characteristic light-sharing pattern of depth-encoding Prism-PET detector modules with single-ended readout. In the iMux readout, four anodes from every other silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) pixels across rows and columns, which overlap with four distinct light guides, are connected to the same application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) channel. The 4-to-1 coupled Prism-PET detector module was used which consisted of a 16× 16 array of 1.5 × 1.5 × 20 mm3 lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) scintillator crystals coupled to an 8 × 8 array with 3× 3mm2 SiPM pixels. A deep learning-based demultiplexing model was investigated to recover the encoded energy signals. Two different experiments were performed with non-multiplexed and multiplexed readouts to evaluate the spatial, depth of interaction (DOI), and timing resolutions of our proposed iMuxscheme. The measured flood histograms, using the decoded energy signals from our deep learning-based demultiplexing architecture, achieved perfect crystal identification of events with negligible decoding error. The average energy, DOI, and timing resolutions were 9.6 ± 1.5%, 2.9 ± 0.9mm, and 266 ± 19ps for non-multiplexed readout and 10.3 ± 1.6%, 2.8 ± 0.8mm, and 311 ± 28ps for multiplexed readout,respectively. Our proposed iMux scheme improves on the already cost-effective and high-resolution Prism-PET detector module and provides 16-to-1 crystal-to-readout multiplexing without appreciable performance degradation. Also, only four SiPM pixels are shorted together in the 8× 8 array to achieve 4-to-1 pixel-to-readout multiplexing, resulting in lower capacitance per multiplexedchannel.

Monolithic scintillator PET detector by using light sharing between adjacent detector modules

A monolithic crystal-based positron emission tomography (PET) detector has a low cost and high sensitivity and allows determining 3D positions by scintillation light distribution. However, the edge effect inherent to scintillators deteriorates the position resolution of the detector toward the crystal borders due to the escape and reflection of the scintillation light. An increase in crystal thickness will improve the detection efficiency, but the edge effect becomes severe. To improve the position resolution and detection efficiency of scintillators, the light-sharing technique is developed. Two identical trapezoidal monolithic cerium-doped lutetium yttrium orthosilicate (LYSO) crystals with a bottom size of 25.80 × 25.80 mm2 and a thickness of 20 mm are optically coupled at one lateral face by an optical medium. The scintillation light near the optically coupled interface is jointly collected by two adjacent 8 × 8 SiPM arrays from the bottom faces. The SiPM signals are individually read out and processed by using the multichannel readout application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) of TOFPET2 to provide a light distribution. The transverse positions and depth of interaction (DOI) are calculated from the measured light distribution. As expected, the optical glue with a refractive index of n = 1.68 shows better light sharing between two LYSO crystals than the coupling media of silicon grease (n = 1.40) and air. For the 20 mm thick monolithic LYSO-based PET detector, the transverse position resolution near the crystal edge is improved by nearly 30% by using the light-sharing method compared with the black-painted treatment. However, the DOI resolution near the edge of the crystal is not significantly improved, which may be attributed to the incomplete collection of scintillation light. The DOI resolution of the detector would be improved by using electronics with lower noise and SiPM arrays with smaller pixel.

Depth-of-interaction positron emission tomography detector with 45° tilted silicon photomultipliers using dual-ended signal readout.

Small-animal positron emission tomography (PET) systems are widely used in molecular imaging research and drug development. There is also growing interest in organ-dedicated clinical PET systems. In these small-diameter PET systems, the measurement of the depth-of-interaction (DOI) of annihilation photons in scintillation crystals allows for the correction of parallax error in PET system, leading to an improvement on the spatial resolution uniformity. The DOI information is also useful for improving the timing resolution of PET system as it enables the correction of DOI-dependent time walk in the arrival time difference measurement of annihilation photon pairs. The dual-ended readout scheme is one of the most widely investigated DOI measurement methods, which collects visible photons using a pair of photosensors located at both ends of the scintillation crystal. Although the dual-ended readout allows for simple and accurate DOI estimation, it requires twice the number of photosensors compared to the single-ended readout scheme. To effectively reduce the number of photosensors in a dual-ended readout scheme, we propose a novel PET detector configuration that employs 45° tilted and sparsely arranged silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). In this configuration, the angle between the scintillation crystal and SiPM is 45°. Therefore, and thus, the diagonal of the scintillation crystal matches one of the lateral sides of the SiPM. Accordingly, it allows for the use of SiPM device larger than the scintillation crystal, thereby improving light collection efficiency with a higher fill factor and reducing SiPM quantity. In addition, all scintillation crystals can achieve more uniform performance than other dual-ended readout methods with a sparse SiPM arrangement because 50% of the scintillation crystal cross section is commonly in contact with the SiPM. To demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed concept, we implemented a PET detector that employs a 4 4 LSO block with a single crystal dimension of 3.03 × 3.03 × 20 mm3 and a 45° tilted SiPM array. The 45° tilted SiPM array consists of 2 × 3 SiPM elements at the top ("Top SiPM") and 3 × 2 SiPM elements at the bottom ("Bottom SiPM"). Each crystal element of the 4 × 4 LSO block is optically coupled with each quarter section of the Top SiPM and Bottom SiPM pair. To characterize the performance of the PET detector, the energy, DOI, and timing resolution were measured for all 16 crystals. The energy data was obtained by summing all the charges from the Top SiPMs and Bottom SiPMs, and the DOI resolution was measured by irradiating the side of the crystal block at five different depths (2, 6, 10, 14, and 18mm). The timing was estimated by averaging the arrival time of the annihilation photons measured at the Top SiPMs and Bottom SiPMs (Method 1). The DOI-dependent time-walk effect was further corrected by using DOI information and statistical variations in the trigger times at the Top SiPMs and Bottom SiPMs (Method 2). The average DOI resolution of the proposed PET detector was 2.5mm, thereby resolving the DOI at five different depths, and the average energy resolution was 16% full width at half maximum (FWHM). When Methods 1 and 2 were applied, the coincidence timing resolutions were 448 and 411ps FWHM, respectively. We expect that our novel low-cost PET detector design with 45° tilted SiPMs and a dual-ended readout scheme would be a suitable solution for constructing a high-resolution PET system with DOI encoding capability.

A conformal TOF-DOI Prism-PET prototype scanner for high-resolution quantitative neuroimaging.

Positron emission tomography (PET) has had a transformative impact on oncological and neurological applications. However, still much of PET's potential remains untapped with limitations primarily driven by low spatial resolution, which severely hampers accurate quantitative PET imaging via the partial volume effect (PVE). We present experimental results of a practical and cost-effective ultra-high resolution brain-dedicated PET scanner, using our depth-encoding Prism-PET detectors arranged along a compact and conformal gantry, showing substantial reduction in PVE and accurate radiotracer uptake quantification in small regions. The decagon-shaped prototype scanner has a long diameter of 38.5cm, a short diameter of 29.1 cm, and an axial field-of-view (FOV) of 25.5mm with a single ring of 40 Prism-PET detector modules. Each module comprises a 16 × 16 array of 1.5 × 1.5 × 20-mm3 lutetium yttrium oxyorthosillicate (LYSO) scintillator crystals coupled 4-to-1 to an 8 × 8 array of silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) pixels on one end and to a prismatoid light guide array on the opposite end. The scanner's performance was evaluated by measuring depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolution, energy resolution, timing resolution, spatial resolution, sensitivity, and image quality of ultra-micro Derenzo and three-dimensional (3D) Hoffman brainphantoms. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) DOI, energy, and timing resolutions of the scanner are 2.85 mm, 12.6%, and 271 ps, respectively. Not considering artifacts due to mechanical misalignment of detector blocks, the intrinsic spatial resolution is 0.89-mm FWHM. Point source images reconstructed with 3D filtered back-projection (FBP) show an average spatial resolution of 1.53-mm FWHM across the entire FOV. The peak absolute sensitivity is 1.2% for an energy window of 400-650 keV. The ultra-micro Derenzo phantom study demonstrates the highest reported spatial resolution performance for a human brain PET scanner with perfect reconstruction of 1.00-mm diameter hot-rods. Reconstructed images of customized Hoffman brain phantoms prove that Prism-PET enables accurate radiotracer uptake quantification in small brain regions (2-3 mm). Prism-PET will substantially strengthen the utility of quantitative PET in neurology for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, and in neuro-oncology for improved management of both primary and metastatic brain tumors.

Single-Ended Readout Depth-of-Interaction Measurements Based on Random Forest Algorithm

The depth-of-interaction (DOI) information can reduce parallax errors and improve the spatial resolution of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Current DOI detectors, with either single-ended readout design or dual-ended readout design, usually require substantial changes to the crystal arrays and/or readout electronics. In this work, we proposed a single-ended readout DOI estimation approach with minimal changes in the detector hardware design, using a supervised machine learning algorithm, random forest (RF). The energy value measured from one end of the crystal, combined with sample points of the pulse signal, were used as inputs to the DOI estimation algorithm, which provided a DOI performance close to that of the dual-ended readout design. We compared the proposed single-ended RF method with the classic dual-ended energy ratio method and a dual-ended version of the RF method, using positioning error and resolution as performance metrics for DOI estimation. All three methods achieved average absolute DOI positioning errors of < 1.00 mm and average DOI resolutions of < 2.20 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM). More specifically, we achieved the averaged DOI resolutions of 2.15, 1.80, and 1.93 mm FWHM for the single-ended RF method, dual-ended RF method, and dual-ended energy ratio method, respectively. In conclusion, the single-ended RF method achieved comparable performance without extra photodetectors and readout electronics and may provide a feasible solution for DOI estimation.

Depth of Interaction and Coincidence Time Resolution Characterization of Ultrahigh Resolution Time-of-Flight Prism-PET Modules

Depth-of-interaction (DOI) positron emission tomography (PET) detector with time-of-flight (TOF) readout has been developed in recent years. With DOI, PET scanner could achieve high spatial resolution and high sensitivity simultaneously. With improved TOF readout, better coincidence time resolution (CTR) is achieved, making the localization of events along the lines of response (LORs) more accurate and enhancing the reconstructed image quality. Prism-PET is a novel DOI-TOF PET detector module with single-ended readout. It utilizes segmented prismatoid light guide array for enhanced and localized light sharing and aims to solve the tradeoff among spatial resolution, sensitivity, and cost. In this work, we characterized the DOI resolution and CTR performance of our Prism-PET module. Unprecedented DOI resolutions of 2.57 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) and 4.01 mm FWHM were achieved in our 4-to-1 and 9-to-1 crystal-to-pixel coupled Prism-PET modules, respectively, outperforming that of a 4-to-1 PET module with a uniform glass light guide (5.72 mm FWHM). Estimated time resolutions (FWHM) after DOI correction were 254 ps and 267 ps for the 4-to-1 and 9-to-1 Prism-PET modules, respectively.

High resolution detectors for whole-body PET scanners by using dual-ended readout

BackgroundMost current whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanners use detectors with high timing resolution to measure the time-of-flight of two 511 keV photons, improving the signal-to-noise ratio of PET images. However, almost all current whole-body PET scanners use detectors without depth-encoding capability; therefore, their spatial resolution can be affected by the parallax effect.MethodsIn this work, four depth-encoding detectors consisting of LYSO arrays with crystals of 2.98 × 2.98 × 20 mm3, 2.98 × 2.98 × 30 mm3, 1.95 × 1.95 × 20 mm3, and 1.95 × 1.95 × 30 mm3, respectively, were read at both ends, with 6 × 6 mm2 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) pixels in a 4 × 4 array being used. The timing signals of the detectors were processed individually using an ultrafast NINO application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to obtain good timing resolution. The 16 energy signals of the SiPM array were read using a row and column summing circuit to obtain four position-encoding energy signals.ResultsThe four PET detectors provided good flood histograms in which all crystals could be clearly resolved, the crystal energy resolutions measured being 10.2, 12.1, 11.4 and 11.7% full width at half maximum (FWHM), at an average crystal depth of interaction (DOI) resolution of 3.5, 3.9, 2.7, and 3.0 mm, respectively. The depth dependence of the timing of each SiPM was measured and corrected, the timing of the two SiPMs being used as the timing of the dual-ended readout detector. The four detectors provided coincidence time resolutions of 180, 214, 239, and 263 ps, respectively.ConclusionsThe timing resolution of the dual-ended readout PET detector was approximately 20% better than that of the single-ended readout detector using the same LYSO array, SiPM array, and readout electronics. The detectors developed in this work used long crystals with small cross-sections and provided good flood histograms, DOI, energy, and timing resolutions, suggesting that they could be used to develop whole-body PET scanners with high sensitivity, uniform high spatial resolution, and high timing resolution.

Performance Characteristics of a Dual-Sided Position-Sensitive Sparse-Sensor Detector for Gamma-ray Imaging.

We characterize the performance of a dualsided position-sensitive sparse sensor (DS-PS3) array detector for positron emission tomography (PET). The DS-PS3 detector is designed as a high performance, cost effective PET detector for organ-specific imaging systems (e.g., brain, breast, etc.). Two sparse 4-by-4 arrays of silicon photomultipliers (18.5% SiPM fill-factor) coupled through segmented light guide are used to readout a 15-by-15 array of 2-mm-pitch, 20-mm-long LSYO crystals. Uniform flood data were used for crystal identification, depth determination, and position-dependent energy resolution. Intrinsic-spatial and depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolutions were determined by stepping a collimated gamma-ray source over the front and side, respectively. We measured an average intrinsic spatial resolution of 2.14 ± 0.07 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM). DOI FWHM resolution varied from 2.2 mm for crystals over sensors to 5.3 mm for crystals between sensors. Average DOI resolution was 3.6 ± 0.8 mm FHWM. Average energy resolution for the detector module was 16.6% with a range of 11.3% to 25.8%. We have demonstrated use of a dual-sided sparse sensor arrays to enable low-cost high-performance decoding of three-dimensional positioning within a PET detector using an 18.5% sensor fill-factor.

Ultra-high-resolution depth-encoding small animal PET detectors: Using GAGG and LYSO crystal arrays.

Small animal positron emission tomography (PET) scanners are widely used in current biomedical research. The study aimed to develop high-efficiency and ultra-high-resolution detectors that could be used to develop a small animal PET scanner with high sensitivity and spatial resolution approaching to its physical limit. Four crystal arrays were fabricated and measured in this study. Crystal arrays 1 and 2 consisted of 38×38 gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet (GAGG) and lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystals of 0.4×0.4×20mm3 size. Crystal array 3 consisted of 16×16 GAGG crystals of 0.3×0.3×20mm3 size, and crystal array 4 consisted of 24×24 LYSO crystals 0.3×0.3×20mm3 in size. The crystal arrays were dual-ended readouts using 8×8 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays of 2×2mm2 pixel area. The SiPM array was readout using a signal multiplexing circuit to convert the 64 output signals into four position-encoding signals. The performances of the four detectors in terms of flood histogram, energy resolution, depth of interaction (DOI) resolution, and timing resolution were measured. The GAGG detectors provided better flood histograms, ∼30% higher photopeak amplitude, ∼20% higher energy resolution, ∼12% worse DOI resolution, and ∼15% worse timing resolution compared with LYSO detectors of the same crystal size. These four detectors provided DOI resolutions of <2mm, energy resolutions of <22%, and timing resolutions of <1.6ns. All crystals of 0.4×0.4×20mm3 and 0.3×0.3×20 mm3 could be clearly resolved if the crystal array was 1mm smaller in the four sides than that in the SiPM array. High DOI resolution PET detectors were developed using both GAGG and LYSO arrays with crystal sizes of 0.3 and 0.4mm, respectively, and a length of 20mm. The detectors can be used in the future to develop small animal PET scanners, especially dedicated mouse imaging PET scanners, which can simultaneously achieve high sensitivity and ultra-high spatial resolution.

Development of crosshair light sharing PET detector with TOF and DOI capabilities using fast LGSO scintillator

Objective. Time-of-flight (TOF) and depth-of-interaction (DOI) are well recognized as important information to improve PET image quality. Since such information types are not correlated, many TOF-DOI detectors have been developed but there are only a few reports of high-resolution detectors (e.g. 1.5 mm resolution) for brain PET systems. Based on the DOI detector, which enables single-ended readout by optically coupling a pair of crystals and having a loop structure, we have developed the crosshair light sharing (CLS) PET detector that optically couples the four-loop structure, consisting of quadrisected crystals comparable in size to a photo-sensor, to four photo-sensors in close proximity arranged in a windmill shape. Even as a high-resolution detector, the CLS PET detector could obtain both TOF and DOI information. The coincidence resolving time (CRT) of the CLS PET detector needs to be further improved, however, for application to the brain PET system. Recently, a fast LGSO crystal was developed which has advantages in detection efficiency and CRT compared to the GFAG crystal. In this work, we developed the CLS PET detector using the fast LGSO crystal for the TOF-DOI brain PET system. Approach. The crystals were each 1.45 × 1.45 × 15 mm3 and all surfaces were chemically etched. The CLS PET detector consisted of a 14 × 14 crystal array optically coupled to an 8 × 8 MPPC array. Main results. The fast LGSO array provided 10.1% energy resolution at 511 keV, 4.7 mm DOI resolution at 662 keV, and 293 ps CRT with the energy window of 440–620 keV. Significance. The developed CLS PET detector has 290% higher coincidence sensitivity, 30% better energy resolution, and 32% better time resolution compared to our previous CLS PET detector.

A compact and lightweight small animal PET with uniform high-resolution for onboard PET/CT image-guided preclinical radiation oncology research

Objective: In contrast to clinical radiation therapy (RT) that ubiquitously uses PET/CT image to accurately guide RT, all current commercial animal irradiators can only provide CT image-guided preclinical RT that severely limits their capability for preclinical and compatibility for translational radiation oncology research. To address this problem, we have developed a compact and lightweight PET with uniform, high spatial resolution that is suited to be installed inside an existing animal irradiator for potential onboard PET/CT image-guided preclinical RT research. Approach: The design focused on the balance of achieving sufficient imaging performance for practical preclinical RT guidance with constrained size and weight. The detector head consists of a ring of 12 detector panels in a dodecagon configuration and 12 front-end electronics boards that are closely attached to the detector panels. The overall size and weight of the detector head are 33.0 cm diameter, 11.0 cm axial length and ∼6.5 kg weight that can be installed inside an existing irradiator. Each detector panel has a 30 × 30 array of 1 × 1 × 20 mm3 LYSO scintillators with depth-of-interaction (DOI) measurement. The front-end electronics boards process and convert detected signals to digital signals and transfer them to system electronics and data acquisition located outside the irradiator through low-voltage-differential-signaling cables. Main results: The typical energy, DOI and coincidence timing resolutions are around 22.1%, 3.1 mm, and 1.92 ns. The imaging field-of-view (FOV) is 8.0 cm diameter and 3.5 cm axial length. The performance evaluations show a 1.8% sensitivity at the center FOV, uniform ∼1.1 mm resolution within 6 cm diameter FOV, and all rods of 1.0 mm diameter can be clearly resolved from the image of an ultra-micro hot-rods phantom. Significance: Overall, this compact and lightweight PET has demonstrated its designed capability and performance sufficient for providing onboard functional/biological/molecular image to guide the preclinical RT research.