Initial performance studies of a wearable brain positron emission tomography camera based on autonomous thin-film digital Geiger avalanche photodiode arrays

• Using analytical and Monte Carlo modeling, we explored performance of a lightweight wearable helmet-shaped brain positron emission tomography (PET), or BET camera, based on thin-film digital Geiger avalanche photodiode arrays with Lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) or LaBr3 scintillators for imaging in vivo human brain function of freely moving and acting subjects. We investigated a spherical cap BET and cylindrical brain PET (CYL) geometries with 250-mm diameter. We also considered a clinical whole-body (WB) LYSO PET/CT scanner. The simulated energy resolutions were 10.8% (LYSO) and 3.3% (LaBr3), and the coincidence window was set at 2 ns. The brain was simulated as a water sphere of uniform F-18 activity with a radius of 100 mm. We found that BET achieved >40% better noise equivalent count (NEC) performance relative to the CYL and >800% than WB. For 10-mm-thick LaBr3 equivalent mass systems, LYSO (7-mm thick) had similar to 40% higher NEC than LaBr3. We found that 1 x 1 x 3 mm scintillator crystals achieved similar to 1.1 mm full-width-half-maximum spatial resolution without parallax errors. Additionally, our simulations showed that LYSO generally outperformed LaBr3 for NEC unless the timing resolution for LaBr3 was considerably smaller than that presently used for LYSO, i.e., well below 300 ps.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Medicinteknik -- Medicinsk apparatteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Medical Engineering -- Medical Equipment Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Positron emission tomography

Sensors

Scintillators

Brain

Photons

Imaging systems

Neuroimaging

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)