To evaluate the performance and localization capabilities of a BGO block detector used in Positron Emission Tomography, the effects of inter-crystal scatter must be assessed and quantified. Since the positioning accuracy of a block detector and the algorithms used for identifying the crystal of interaction is of major concern in designing PET systems, the spatial response of an eight by four block detector made up of a 5.6 mm wide, 12.9 mm high and 30 mm thick individual detector crystals to a collimated line source of 511 keV annihilation photons was examined. The response of each crystal showed a spread around the average positioning values and distributions from adjacent crystals overlapped. This leads to possible errors in the event assignment. Furthermore the inter-detector scattering which exists does not allow distinction to be made between the crosstalk that occurs between two crystals or more than two neighboring crystals.

Date Published: 28 June 2001
PDF: 4 pages
Proc. SPIE 4320, Medical Imaging 2001: Physics of Medical Imaging, (28 June 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.430870

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4320:
Medical Imaging 2001: Physics of Medical Imaging
Larry E. Antonuk; Martin Joel Yaffe, Editor(s)