Development of a compact DOI–TOF detector module for high-performance PET systems

• Published in: Nuclear science and techniques Vol. 28; no. 4; pp. 53 - 59
• Main Authors: Wei, Qing-Yang, Xu, Tian-Peng, Dai, Tian-Tian, Wang, Shi, Liu, Ya-Qiang, Gu, Yu, Ma, Tian-Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.04.2017; School of Automatic and Electrical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China%Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084, China; Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging(Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, China%Department of Radiation Oncology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
• Subjects: Energy; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Physics; SiPM; Depth of interaction (DOI); Positron emission tomography; Time-of-flight (TOF)
• ISSN: 1001-8042; 2210-3147
• DOI: 10.1007/s41365-017-0202-2

To increase spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio in PET imaging, we present in this paper the design and performance evaluation of a PET detector module combining both depth-of-interaction (DOI) and time-of-flight (TOF) capabilities. The detector module consists of a staggered dual-layer LYSO block with 2 mm × 2 mm × 7 mm crystals. MR-compatible SiPM sensors (MicroFJ-30035-TSV, SensL) are assembled into an 8 × 8 array. SiPM signals from both fast and slow outputs are read out by a 128-channel ASIC chip. To test its performance, a flood histogram is acquired with a 22 Na point source on top of the detector, and the energy resolution and the coincidence resolving time (CRT) value for each individual crystal are measured. The flood histogram shows excellent crystal separation in both layers. The average energy resolution at 511 keV is 14.0 and 12.7% at the bottom and top layers, respectively. The average CRT of a single crystal is 635 and 565 ps at the bottom and top layers, respectively. In conclusion, the compact DOI–TOF PET detector module is of excellent crystal identification capability, good energy resolution and reasonable time resolution and has promising application prospective in clinical TOF PET, PET/MRI, and brain PET systems.