State of the art timing in TOF-PET detectors with LuAG, GAGG and L(Y)SO scintillators of various sizes coupled to FBK-SiPMs

Time of flight (TOF) in positron emission tomography (PET) has experienced a revival of interest after its first introduction in the eighties. This is due to a significant progress in solid state photodetectors (SiPMs) and newly developed scintillators (LSO and its derivatives). Latest developments...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of instrumentation 2016-08, Vol.11 (8), p.P08008-P08008
Main Authors: Gundacker, S., Acerbi, F., Auffray, E., Ferri, A., Gola, A., Nemallapudi, M.V., Paternoster, G., Piemonte, C., Lecoq, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cross sections
Crystals
Photons
Positron emission
Scintillation
Time measurement
Time measurements
Tomography
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Summary:Time of flight (TOF) in positron emission tomography (PET) has experienced a revival of interest after its first introduction in the eighties. This is due to a significant progress in solid state photodetectors (SiPMs) and newly developed scintillators (LSO and its derivatives). Latest developments at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) lead to the NUV-HD SiPM with a very high photon detection efficiency of around 55%. Despite the large area of 4x4 mm super(2) it achieves a good single photon time resolution (SPTR) of 180+ or -5ps FWHM. Coincidence time resolution (CTR) measurements using LSO:Ce codoped with Ca scintillators yield best values of 73+ or -2ps FWHM for 2x2x3 mm super(3) and 117+ or -3ps for 2x2x20 mm super(3) crystal sizes. Increasing the crystal cross-section from 2x2 mm super(2) to 3x3 mm super(2) a non negligible CTR deterioration of approximately 7ps FWHM is observed. Measurements with LSO:Ce codoped Ca and LYSO:Ce scintillators with various cross-sections (1x1 mm super(2)- 4x4 mm super(2)) and lengths (3mm - 30mm) will be a basis for discussing on how the crystal geometry affects timing in TOF-PET. Special attention is given to SiPM parameters, e.g. SPTR and optical crosstalk, and their measured dependency on the crystal cross-section. Additionally, CTR measurements with LuAG:Ce, LuAG:Pr and GGAG:Ce samples are presented and the results are interpreted in terms of their scintillation properties, e.g. rise time, decay time, light yield and emission spectra.
ISSN:1748-0221
1748-0221
DOI:10.1088/1748-0221/11/08/P08008