Study of compatibility of a Silicon Drift Detector with a MRI system

A Gamma Camera based on Silicon Drift Detectors (SDDs) represents a gamma-ray imaging device with several potentialities in the field of medical imaging. The potential intrinsic insensitivity to magnetic fields of SDDs provides the important capability to use this device in combination with MRI. The possibility of simultaneous data acquisition with scintigraphic/SPECT and MRI systems plays in fact a topic role in the field of medical research and clinical diagnosis. The main effect in a SDD due to the presence of a constant magnetic field was simulated and tested and the preliminary results are presented in this work. Simulations and tests were also made to verify that the presence of the detection system doesn’t significantly perturb magnetic force lines in the MRI system. The results are here presented and discussed. Experimental characterization was made with a simplified gamma-ray detection system in order to verify the possibility of simultaneous data acquisition with a MRI system operating with a magnetic field up to 7T.