Detector characterization of Discovery ST whole-body PET scanner

A new whole-body PET scanner from General Electric (Discovery ST) is based on 6/spl times/6 BGO block detector using quad photo multipliers and utilizes a state of the art data acquisition system. The detector consists of 280 detector units in a ring structure. Each detector unit consists of a BGO block and a quad photomultiplier. The DST scanner has high sensitivity compared to other available whole-body scanners. This paper presents the characterization parameters of the detector including energy resolution, the quality of position maps, temperature dependence, and timing resolution. The data from several production samples are analyzed and compared to the design models. Stability and long-term drift measurements are provided for system sensitivity and PMT gains.