A section of a curved pixelated NaI(Tl) detector for SPECT/TCT

摘要

Previously we described a small detector module as a basis for C-SPECT's detector system [1]. The detector module was based on a scintillator block comprised of an array of 36×17 of 2.25 × 2.75 × 10 mm3 NaI(Tl) pixels in a 2.5 × 3 mm pitch. The module was decoded by an array of 51-mm-diameter single-anode photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs). Here we present a prototype consisting of 3 large detector modules (each with an array of 36×56 pixels) with the same 2.5 × 3 mm pixel pitch, and decoded by 31 PMTs in a similar fashion as the small module. The analog signals from the PMTs were digitized by, and the events were processed with the initial release of OpenPET's [2] hardware and firmware, respectively. The 3-detector prototype was assembled and tested [3]. Preliminary experiments included taking intrinsic floods of the 3-detector module and qualitative demonstration of resolution/ sensitivity tradeoff performance using C-SPECT's slit-slat collimator [4], without pixel identification or detector corrections. The decoding maps for each detector module show good visual delineation of the pixels in majority of the detector's field of view (FOV). The preliminary resolution/sensitivity tradeoff data shows qualitatively expected behavior when switching between the high-resolution and the high-sensitivity mode of the collimators.