Comparison of Fast Scintillators With TOF PET Potential

Author

Conti, Maurizio ; Eriksson, Lars ; Rothfuss, Harold ; Melcher, Charles L.

Author_Institution

Siemens Mol. Imaging, Knoxville, TN

Volume

56

Issue

3

fYear

2009

fDate

6/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

926

Lastpage

933

Abstract

The renewed interest in time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET) has been accompanied by new research in the development of fast scintillators, mainly halides and/or lutetium-based compounds doped with Ce or Pr. In this work we measure some intrinsic properties of these materials, such as decay time and light output, which have a direct effect on time resolution, the key performance parameter for a TOF-grade detector. In particular, we report on measurements on LSO:Ce, LuAG:Pr, LuYAP:Ce, LaBr₃:Ce and LaCl₃:Ce. The scintillators are characterized in terms of absolute light yield, decay time, energy resolution, emission and excitation spectra, and time resolution. A new figure of merit to compare scintillators based on their performance in a TOF PET scanner is introduced. This figure of merit, the TOF effective sensitivity eta , includes both interaction probability and timing characteristics.

Keywords

positron emission tomography; solid scintillation detectors; LSO:Ce scintillator; LaCl₃:Ce scintillator; LuAG:Pr scintillator; LuYAP:Ce scintillator; TOF-grade detector; emission spectra; energy resolution; excitation spectra; interaction probability; lutetium-based compound; material intrinsic properties; positron emission tomography; time resolution; time-of-flight PET; Aluminum; Energy resolution; Helium; Laboratories; Lanthanum; Molecular imaging; Particle measurements; Positron emission tomography; Time measurement; Timing; ${rm LaBr}_{3}$; LSO; LuAG; PET; TOF; TOF gain; detectors; light output; scintillators; time resolution;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2008.2009446

Filename

5076034