We introduce a re-configurable system design for positron emission tomography (PET) for purpose of maximizing the cost effectiveness of PET. In this new design concept, a PET system employs a small number of compact, flat-panel (cFP) PET detectors (which we believe will be made available in near future by us or others) to assume various scanner geometries so that the performance properties desired in various imaging applications can be met by a single PET system. For purpose of demonstration, we consider the design of a re-configurable small-animal system consisting of four cFP detectors that are approximately 8×8 cm~2 in size and made of 10mm thick LSO. We consider four geometries for the scanner and conduct Monte-Carlo simulations to study their sensitivity, scatter fractions, random fractions, and noise-equivalent count rates. Our results indicate that, in terms of sensitivity and imaging field-of-view (FOV) the re-configurable system that we consider are very promising for small-animal imaging.
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