SiPM performance in PET applications: An experimental and theoretical analysis

Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) are increasingly being studied for their use in clinical and pre-clinical PET applications. Many groups have evaluated the performance of Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs) from Hamamatsu Photonics. When coupled to PET scintillator crystals, these devices have shown promising results in terms of energy and timing resolution. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main factors that determine the performance of SiPM based PET detectors and to provide guidelines for further optimization towards the performance levels of state-of-the-art PMT detectors. We present a statistical signal analysis that links the energy and time resolution to fundamental device characteristics, such as photon detection efficiency, cell density, secondary avalanche probability and dark rate. The trade-offs and impact of these device parameters on the overall detector performance is analyzed and discussed.