• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2022

Positron emission tomography for small animals has very high spatial resolution for imaging very small organs. To achieve good spatial resolution, the system must be constructed using very small scintillation pixels. When a detector is constructed using very small scintillation pixels, the size of the applicable array varies depending on the photosensor pixel. In a previous study, a study was conducted to find the maximum scintillation pixel arrangement according to the size of the photosensor. In this study, a detector with a light guide was designed to configure the detector using a more extended array of scintillation pixels, and try to find the maximum arrangement in which all scintillation pixels are imaged. The detector was designed using DETECT2000, which can simulate a detector made of a scintillator. Simulations were performed by configuring the detectors from an 11 × 11 scintillation pixel array to a 16 × 16 array. After obtaining a flood image by collecting the light generated from the scintillation pixel with a photosensor, the largest arrangement without overlap was found through image analysis. As a result, the largest arrangement in which all scintillation pixels could be distinguished without overlapping was a 15 × 15 arrangement.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.157-162
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• 2022

Since preclinical positron emission tomography imaging is performed on small animals that are very small compared to the human body, a detector with excellent spatial resolution is required. For this purpose, a system was constructed using a detector using small scintillation pixels. Since the size of the currently developed and used photosensors is limited, excellent spatial resolution can be obtained when the minimum scintillation pixel and maximum array are used. In this study, the size of the photosensor is fixed and various scintillation pixel arrays are configured to match the size of the scintillation pixels, so that no overlap occurs in the flood image and the maximum scintillation pixel array in which all scintillation pixels are distinguished. For this purpose, DETECT2000, which can simulate a detector module composed of a scintillator and an photosensor, was used. A photosensor consisting of a 4 × 4 array of 3 mm × 3 mm pixels was used, and the scintillation pixel array was configured from 8 × 8 to 13 × 13, and simulations were performed. A flood image was constructed using the data obtained from the photosensor pixel, and the maximum scintillation pixel array that does not overlap the image was found through the flood image and the profile. As a result, the size of the scintillation pixel array in which all scintillation pixels are imaged without overlapping each other in the flood image was 11 × 11.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.749-754
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• 2021

In order to maximize the matching ratio between the scintillation pixel and the photosensor of the PET detector using a small number of photosensor, various arrays of scintillation pixels and four photosensors were used. The array of scintillation pixels consisted of six cases from 6 × 6 to 11 × 11. The distance between the photosensors was applied equally to all scintillation pixels, and the arrangement was expanded by reducing the size of scintillation pixel. DETECT2000 capable of light simulation was used to acquire flood images of the designed PET detectors. At the center of each scintillation pixel array, light generated through the interaction between extinction radiation and scintillation pixels was generated, and the light was detected through for four photosensors, and then a flood image was reconstructed. Through the reconstructed flood image, we found the largest arrangement in which all the scintillation pixels can be distinguished. As a result, it was possible to distinguish all the scintillation pixels in the flood image of 8 × 8 scintillation pixel array, and from the 9 × 9 scintillation pixel flood image, the two edge scintillation pixels overlapped and appeared in the image. At this time, the matching ratio between the scintillation pixel and the photosensor was 16:1. When a PET system is constructed using this detector, the number of photosensors used is reduced and the cost of the oveall system is expected to be reduced through the simplification of the signal processing circuit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.365-371
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• 2022

In order to obtain excellent spatial resolution in the PET detector, when the detector module is designed using very small scintillation pixels, overlap occurs at the edges and corners of the scintillation pixel array in the flood image. By using a light guide, the occurrence of overlap can be reduced. In this study, after using a scintillator of 0.8 mm × 0.8 mm × 20 mm to form a 14 × 14 array, 3 mm × 3 mm SiPM pixels are combined with 4 × 4 photosensor to reduce the occurrence of overlap. The optimal thickness of the light guide used for this purpose was derived. Quantitative evaluation was performed based on scintillation pixel images of edges and corners where overlap occurs mainly in the acquired flood image. Quantitative evaluation was calculated through the interval and full width at half maximum between scintillation pixel images, and when a light guide with a thickness of 2 mm was used, the best image was obtained with a k value of 2.60. In addition, as a result of measuring the energy resolution through the energy spectrum, the light guide with a thickness of 2 mm showed the best result at 28.5%. If a 2 mm light guide is used, it is considered that the best flood image and energy resolution with minimal overlap can be obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2023

In preclinical positron emisson tomography(PET), spatial resolution degradation occurs outside the field of view(FOV). To solve this problem, a depth of interaction(DOI) detector was developed that measures the position where gamma rays and the scintillator interact. There are a method in which a scintillation pixel array is composed of multiple layers, a method in which photosensors are arranged at both ends of a single layer, a method in which a scintillation pixel array is constituted in several layers and a photosensor is arranged in each layer. In this study, a new type of DOI detector was designed by analyzing the characteristics of the previously developed detectors. In the two-layer detector, different sizes of scintillation pixels were used for each layer, and the array size was configured differently. When configured in this form, the positions of the scintillation pixels for each layer are arranged to be shifted from each other, so that they are imaged at different positions in a flood image. DETECT2000 simulation was performed to confirm the possibility of measuring the depth of interaction of the designed detector. A flood image was reconstructed from a light signal acquired by a gamma-ray event generated at the center of each scintillation pixel. As a result, it was confirmed that all scintillation pixels for each layer were separated from the reconstructed flood image and imaged to measure the interaction depth. When this detector is applied to preclinical PET, it is considered that excellent images can be obtained by improving spatial resolution.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1760-1768
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• 2022

When gamma-camera sensor modules, which are key components of radiation imagers, are derived from the coupling between scintillators and photosensors, the light collection efficiency is an important factor in determining the effectiveness with which the instrument can identify nuclides via their derived gamma-ray spectra. If the pixel area of the scintillator is larger than the pixel area of the photosensor, light loss and cross-talk between pixels of the photosensor can result in information loss, thereby degrading the precision of the energy estimate and the accuracy of the position-of-interaction determination derived from each active pixel in a coded-aperture based gamma camera. Here we present two methods to overcome the information loss associated with the loss of photons created by scintillation pixels that are coupled to an associated silicon photomultiplier pixel. Specifically, we detail the use of either: (1) light guides, or (2) scintillation pixel areas that match the area of the SiPM pixel. Compared with scintillator/SiPM couplings that have slightly mismatched intercept areas, the experimental results show that both methods substantially improve both the energy and spatial resolution by increasing light collection efficiency, but in terms of the image sensitivity and image quality, only slight improvements are accrued.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.697-702
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• 2022

For imaging in positron emission tomography(PET), it is necessary to measure the position of the scintillation pixel interacting with the gamma rays incident on the detector. To this end, in the conventional system, a flood image of the scintillation pixel is obtained, the imaged area of each scintillation pixel is separated, and the position of the scintillation pixel is specified and acquired as a digital signal. In this study, a deep learning method was applied based on the signal formed by the photosensor of the detector, and a method was developed to directly acquire a digital signal without going through various procedures. DETECT2000 simulation was performed to verify this and evaluate the accuracy of position measurement. A detector was constructed using a 6 × 6 scintillation pixel array and a 4 × 4 photosensor, and a gamma ray event was generated at the center of the scintillation pixel and summed into four channels of signals through the Anger equation. After training the deep learning model using the acquired signal, the positions of gamma-ray events that occurred in different depth directions of the scintillation pixel were measured. The results showed accurate results at every scintillation pixel and position. When the method developed in this study is applied to the PET detector, it will be possible to measure the position of the scintillation pixel with a digital signal more conveniently.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 2022

A detector using a small number of photosensors was designed, and the position of a scintillation pixel that interacted with gamma rays through a maximum likelihood position estimation(MLPE) was measured as a digital position. For this purpose, simulation was performed using DETECT2000, which can simulate the movement of light within the scintillator, and the accuracy of position measurement was evaluated. A detector was configured using a 6 × 6 scintillation pixel array and 4 photosensors, and a gamma ray event was generated at the center of each scintillation pixel to create a look-up table through the ratio of acquired light. The gamma-ray event generated at the new position was applied as the input value of the MLPE, and the positiion of the scintillation pixel was converted into a digital positiion after comparison with the look-up table. All scintillation pixels were evaluated, and as a result, a high accuracy of 99.1% was obtained. When this method is applied to the currently usesd system, it is concidered that the process of determining the position of the scintillation pixel will be simplified.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.523-529
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• 2023

In order to achieve excellent spatial resolution, very small scintillation pixels are used in detectors of positron emission tomography for small animals. However, by using these very small scintillation pixels, scintillation pixels at the edge of the array may overlap in a flood image. To solve this problem, a light guide capable of changing the distribution of light was used. Depending on the material of the light guide, the light spreading tendency is different, and accordingly, the presence or absence of overlapping is different depending on the material of the light guide used. In this study, instead of the conventional glass light guide, a detector using the same material as the scintillation pixel was designed. A scintillator light guide has a higher refractive index than a glass light guide, so the light spread is different. Flood images were acquired to evaluate the degree of separation of the scintillation pixels at the edge of the detector using the two light guides. The degree of separation was evaluated by calculating the distance between the center and the spatial resolution of the image of two scintillation pixels at the edge of the obtained flood image. As a result, when the scintillator light guide was used, better spatial resolution was shown, and the distance between centers of scintillation pixels was wider. When a detector is constructed using a scintillator light guide instead of a conventional glass light guide, it is possible to use a smaller scintillation pixel, thereby securing better spatial resolution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.661-666
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• 2019

Diverging collimators is used to obtain reduced images of an object, or to detect a wide filed-of-view (FOV) using a small gamma camera. In the gamma camera using the diverging collimators, the block scintillator, and the pixel scintillator array, gamma rays are obliquely incident on the scintillator surface when the source is located the periphery of the FOV. Therefore, the spatial resolution is reduced because it is obliquely detected in depth direction. In this study, we designed a novel system to improve the spatial resolution in the periphery of the FOV. Using a tapered crystal array to configure the scintillation pixels to coincide with the angle of the collimator's hole allows imaging to one scintillation pixel location, even if events occur to different depths. That is, even if is detected at various points in the diagonal direction, the gamma rays interact with one crystal pixel, so resolution does not degrade. The resolution of the block scintillator and the tapered crystal array was compared and evaluated through Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) simulation. The spatial resolution of the obtained image was 4.05 mm in the block scintillator and 2.97 mm in the tapered crystal array. There was a 26.67% spatial resolution improvement in the tapered crystal array compared to the block scintillation.