Compact, MR compatible SiPM small animal PET DOI detector

Abstract

We introduce a compact preclinical PET detector that combines the output from 64 SiPM channels, forming an 8×8 matrix of pixels capable of efficiently encoding event position, with good energy and time resolution, as well as depth of interaction information. The scintillator matrices used to characterize the detector are a 16×16 matrix comprised of 1.3×1.3×12mm3 LYSO crystals, and a 1.3×1.3×15mm3 GSO/LYSO phoswhich. Preliminary results regarding spatial resolution show that the detector has a resolvability index of 0.25, an energy resolution below 14% for the 511KeV peak and a good separation between the two different phoswich crystal layers. Due to the compactness and MR compatibility of this detector it is proposed as a candidate to substitute those based on the R8900 PS-PMT in a full ring system that could be inserted into the MR bore of a preclinical PET-MR imager.