Design and performance of the HEAD PENN-PET scanner

A new PET scanner for brain imaging (and animals) has been designed with very high sensitivity and spatial resolution. The design is an evolution of the PENN-PET scanner, which uses large position-sensitive NaI(Tl) detectors, with Anger-type positioning logic, and which allows 3D volume imaging, without septa. The new design is built with a single annular crystal coupled to 180 photomultiplier tubes, and uses local triggering electronics to subdivide the detector into small zones and to determine coincident events within the detector. The axial acceptance angle of /spl plusmn/27 deg, with a field-of-view of 25.6 cm, is larger than any currently operating PET scanner. Performance measurements are presented.<>