A high resolution animal PET scanner using compact PS-PMT detectors

A new high resolution PET scanner dedicated to animal studies has been designed, built and tested. The system utilizes 240 block detectors, each of which consists of a new compact position-sensitive photomultiplier tube (PS-PMT) and an 8/spl times/4 BGO array. A total number of 7,680 crystals (480 per ring) are positioned to form a 508 mm diameter of 16 detector rings with 7.2 mm pitch and 114 mm axial field of view (FOV). The system is designed to perform activation studies using a monkey in a sitting position. The data can be acquired in either 2D or 3D mode, where the slice collimators are retracted in 3D mode. The transaxial resolution is 2.6 mm FWHM at the center of the FOV, and the average axial resolution on the axis of the ring is 3.3 mm FWHM in the direct slice and 3.2 mm FWHM in the cross slice. The scatter fraction, sensitivity and count rate performance were evaluated for a 10 cm diameter cylindrical phantom. The total system sensitivity is 2.3 kcps/kBq/ml in 2D mode and 22.8 kcps/kBq/ml in 3D mode. The noise equivalent count rate with 3D mode is equivalent to that with 2D mode at five times higher radioactivity level. The applicable imaging capabilities of the scanner was demonstrated by animal studies with a monkey.