A novel brain PET insert for the MINDView project

The Multimodal Imaging of Neurological Disorders (MINDview) project aims to develop a high resolution and sensitivity dedicated brain Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system capable of visualizing neurotransmitter pathways and their disruptions for mental disorders for diagnosis and treatment follow-up. Moreover, this compact PET system should be fully compatible with a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system in order to allow its operation as a brain insert in a hybrid imaging setup with most MRI scanners. The proposed design will enable current installed MRI base to be easily upgraded to PET/MRI systems. The current design for the PET insert consists of a 3 rings configuration, 20 modules per ring, with an axial field of view of ~15 cm and a geometrical aperture of ~33 cm in diameter. When coupled to the new head Radio Frequency (RF) coil, the inner diameter of the complete PET-RF coil insert is reduced to 26 cm. Main features of the PET detector insert for the MINDView project in terms of its overall design, electronic readout, and MRI compatibility will be presented. In addition, the main parameters of the PET detector insert, such as expected spatial and energy resolution, depth of interaction (DOI) capabilities and sensitivity will be discussed in terms of the different approaches considered so far for the construction of the first MINDView prototype. Laboratory tests results associated with the current MINDView PET module concept in terms of key parameters optimisation such as scintillator crystal, photosensor configuration and signal readout will be also presented.