Photodetectors for nuclear medical imaging

There have been a number of recent advances in photodetector technology, notably in photomultiplier tubes with high quantum efficiency (up to ∼50%), hybrid photodetectors, and silicon-based Geiger-mode photodetectors. This paper looks at the potential benefits that these technologies can bring to nuclear medicine, notably single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET). We find that while the potential benefits to SPECT are relatively small, they can bring performance improvements in many areas for PET.