An Intensified EMCCD Camera for Low Energy Gamma Ray Imaging Applications

This paper presents the design and feasibility study of a very-high resolution gamma camera for detecting 27-35 keV X and gamma rays emitted by I-125 labelled radiotracers. This detector consists of a newly developed Electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) sensor and a de-magnifier tube coupled to a thin layer of scintillator. A prototype detector was developed and experimentally evaluated. This detector has a detection area of ~5times5 cm
²
. It provided an intrinsic spatial resolution of <60 mum FWHM and a high signal-to-noise ratio for detecting the 27-35 keV photons, which ensures an excellent counting efficiency. This detector will be used as the key component for a single photon emission microscope (SPEM) system that is under development