Continuous-slice PENN-PET: a positron tomograph with volume imaging capability.
The PENN-PET scanner consists of six hexagonally arranged position-sensitive Nal(TI) detectors. This design offers high spatial resolution in all three dimensions, high sampling density along all three axes without scanner motion, a large axial acceptance angle, good energy resolution, and good timing resolution. This results in three-dimensional imaging capability with high sensitivity and low scatter and random backgrounds. The spatial resolution is 5.5 mm (FWHM) in all directions near the center. The true sensitivity, for a brain-sized object, is a maximum of 85 kcps/microCi/ml and the scatter fraction is a minimum of 10%, both depending on the lower level energy threshold. The scanner can handle up to 5 mCi in the field of view, at which point the randoms equal the true coincidences and the detectors reach their count rate limit. We have so far acquired [18F]FDG brain studies and cardiac studies, which show the applicability of our scanner for both brain and whole-body imaging. With the results to date, we feel that this design results in a simple yet high performance scanner which is applicable to many types of static and dynamic clinical studies.
Karp
J S
JS
Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104.
Muehllehner
G
G
MankofF
D A
DA
Ordonez
C E
CE
Ollinger
J M
JM
Daube-Witherspoon
M E
ME
Haigh
A T
AT
Beerbohm
D J
DJ
D004867:Equipment Design; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000295:instrumentation*