Development of the ProSPECTus semiconductor Compton camera for medical imaging

The ProSPECTus project is the development of a prototype semiconductor Compton camera for use in nuclear medical imaging applications. The proposed system has the potential to improve the sensitivity of conventional mechanically collimated Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) systems through the use of electronic collimation techniques. In addition, the use of compatible semiconductor technology within a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system could potentially lead to simultaneous SPECT/MRI data acquisition. This paper outlines the consideration of key design features for the new system. Such design factors include the geometrical setup, suitable energy and position resolution values for the detectors and the ability of the system to function in a magnetic field. The ProSPECTus prototype imaging system will now be built according to optimised specifications.