A nuclear medicine gamma-ray detector based on germanium strip detector technology

Recent advances in germanium strip detector technology have opened up the possibility to produce a novel gamma-ray detector for use in nuclear medicine. The advantages of position sensitivity coupled with the fine spectral resolution from high-purity germanium can be exploited to produce a tracking detector for use with a variety of biochemically useful isotopes. The tracking ability of the gamma-ray detector allows ambiguities in the positron emission tomography or SPECT data set to be resolved, which would otherwise cause events to be rejected in a standard non-tracking system. In order to ascertain the potential improvements in the imaging that result from this extra information, a Monte Carlo model of the detector and acquisition system is being coded. Preliminary results from the model are presented and their consequences on the detector design are discussed.