Carel W. E. van Eijk

Inorganic scintillators in medical imaging

A review of medical diagnostic imaging methods utilizing x-rays or gamma rays and the application and development of inorganic scintillators is presented.

Inorganic-scintillator development☆

Abstract A review is presented of recent inorganic scintillator R&D. Attention is focused on Ce doped gamma-ray and thermal-neutron scintillators for counting applications.

Monolithic scintillator PET detectors with intrinsic depth-of-interaction correction

We developed positron emission tomography (PET) detectors based on monolithic scintillation crystals and position-sensitive light sensors. Intrinsic depth-of-interaction (DOI) correction is achieved by deriving the entry points of annihilation photons on the front surface of the crystal from the light sensor signals. Here we characterize the next generation of these detectors, consisting of a 20 mm thick rectangular or trapezoidal LYSO:Ce crystal read out on the front and the back (double-sided readout, DSR) by Hamamatsu S8550SPL avalanche photodiode (APD) arrays optimized for DSR. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the detector point-spread function (PSF) obtained with a rectangular crystal at normal incidence equals approximately 1.05 mm at the detector centre, after correction for the approximately 0.9 mm diameter test beam of annihilation photons. Resolution losses of several tenths of a mm occur near the crystal edges. Furthermore, trapezoidal crystals perform almost equally well as rectangular ones, while improving system sensitivity. Due to the highly accurate DOI correction of all detectors, the spatial resolution remains essentially constant for angles of incidence of up to at least 30 degrees . Energy resolutions of approximately 11% FWHM are measured, with a fraction of events of up to 75% in the full-energy peak. The coincidence timing resolution is estimated to be 2.8 ns FWHM. The good spatial, energy and timing resolutions, together with the excellent DOI correction and high detection efficiency of our detectors, are expected to facilitate high and uniform PET system resolution.

Development of inorganic scintillators

Abstract A review is presented on different lines of scintillator research in relation to the different applications and requirements. Applications of inorganic scintillators are found in very different fields. Often the scintillator requirements are correspondingly different. In a number of cases there is a strong interest in scintillators with a fast response and a high light yield. E.g. for positron emission tomography the materials Lu 2 SiO 5 (Ce) and LuAlO 3 (Ce), both with a relatively high density, are studied. For small gamma cameras with a good position resolution, e.g. for emission mammography, the less dense material YAlO 3 (Ce) is of interest. For thermal-neutron detection neutron-gamma ray discrimination is occasionally very important. Here BaLiF 3 , with both a very fast and a relatively slow luminescence component, and BaLiF 3 (Ce) are interesting new materials. And finally, for high-energy physics the crucial combination is a fast response and a short radiation length. Here all attention is focussed on the dense, high-atomic-number material PbWO 4 , a scintillator which has a very low light yield.

Inorganic scintillators in medical imaging detectors

A review is presented of some recent developments in the field of inorganic scintillators for medical-imaging detectors, in particular detectors for fluoroscopy, X-ray computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET).

Optical simulation of monolithic scintillator detectors using GATE/GEANT4

Much research is being conducted on position-sensitive scintillation detectors for medical imaging, particularly for emission tomography. Monte Carlo simulations play an essential role in many of these research activities. As the scintillation process, the transport of scintillation photons through the crystal(s), and the conversion of these photons into electronic signals each have a major influence on the detector performance; all of these processes may need to be incorporated in the model to obtain accurate results. In this work the optical and scintillation models of the GEANT4 simulation toolkit are validated by comparing simulations and measurements on monolithic scintillator detectors for high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET). We have furthermore made the GEANT4 optical models available within the user-friendly GATE simulation platform (as of version 3.0). It is shown how the necessary optical input parameters can be determined with sufficient accuracy. The results show that the optical physics models of GATE/GEANT4 enable accurate prediction of the spatial and energy resolution of monolithic scintillator PET detectors.

Neutron PSDs for the next generation of spallation neutron sources

A review of R&D for neutron PSDs to be used at anticipated new spallation neutron sources: the Time-of-Flight system facility, European Spallation Source, Spallation Neutron Source and Neutron Arena, is presented. The gas-filled detectors, scintillation detectors and hybrid systems are emphasized.

Radiation detector developments in medical applications: inorganic scintillators in positron emission tomography

In recent years, a number of new gamma-ray scintillators are commercially available. These scintillators are either derived from known scintillators, e.g. Lu1-xYxAlO3: Ce (LuYAP) from LuAlO3:Ce and Lu(2(1-x))Y2xSiO5:Ce (LYSO) from Lu2SiO5:Ce or are the result of new discoveries, e.g. LaCl3:Ce and LaBr3:Ce. The first two materials are primarily of interest because of the relatively high detection efficiency and fast response; LYSO has found application in time-of-flight (TOF) positron-emission tomography (TOF PET) and the LuYAP-LYSO combination is used in small-animal PET. The halide scintillators have an excellent energy resolution of approximately 3% at 662 keV and they have a relatively high light yield. LaBr3:Ce is being studied for application in TOF PET. At the same time, the search for and research on new scintillator materials are going on. For example, LuI3:Ce is a new material with a very high light yield (approximately 90,000 photons MeV(-1)). Other examples of new materials are (C6H13NH3)2PbI4 and (C3H7NH3)2PbBr4, organic-inorganic hybrid compounds, of which the former has a very fast sub-nanosecond response. The new scintillators show great promise for new developments in medical applications, in particular, for PET systems.

Comparative study of silicon detectors

We studied three different types of silicon sensors: PIN diodes, circular drift detectors, both made at the Delft University of Technology (DUT), and Hamamatsu S5345 avalanche photodiodes. Measurements have been carried out in the same optimized experimental setup, both at room temperature and at low temperatures. Comparison is made for direct X-ray detection and CsI(Tl) scintillation light readout.

Model of the point spread function of monolithic scintillator PET detectors for perpendicular incidence

PURPOSE Previously, we demonstrated the potential of positron emission tomography detectors consisting of monolithic scintillation crystals read out by arrays of solid-state light sensors. We reported detector spatial resolutions of 1.1-1.3 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) with no degradation for angles of incidence up to 30 degrees, energy resolutions of approximately 11% FWHM, and timing resolutions of approximately 2 ns FWHM, using monolithic LYSO:Ce3+ crystals coupled to avalanche photodiode (APD) arrays. Here we develop, validate, and demonstrate a simple model of the detector point spread function (PSF) of such monolithic scintillator detectors. METHODS A PSF model was developed that essentially consists of two convolved components, one accounting for the spatial distribution of the energy deposited by annihilation photons within the crystal, and the other for the influences of statistical signal fluctuations and electronic noise. The model was validated through comparison with spatial resolution measurements on a detector consisting of an LYSO:Ce3+ crystal read out by two APD arrays. RESULTS The model is shown to describe the measured detector spatial response well at the noise levels found in the experiments. In addition, it is demonstrated how the model can be used to correct the measured spatial response for the influence of the finite diameter of the annihilation photon beam used in the experiments, thus obtaining an estimate of the intrinsic detector PSF. CONCLUSIONS Despite its simplicity, the proposed model is an accurate tool for analyzing the detector PSF of monolithic scintillator detectors and can be used to estimate the intrinsic detector PSF from the measured one.