Point source resolution performance of a germanium Compton camera

Two of the critical performance parameters for a Compton Camera Imager (CCI) are the Point Source Resolution Accuracy (PSLA) and the Minimum Resolvable Separation (MRS). This paper describes analysis of both experimental data and simulated data to evaluate the capabilities of a germanium Compton Camera Imager. The experimental data are taken from a set of experiments performed in 1993 at Naval Research Laboratory. The detector diameters in that study were too large for meaningful results of the minimum resolvable separation of sources, although multiple sources were clearly differentiated. Subsequent design studies have utilized Monte Carlo simulations to predict the performance parameters for a number of detector geometries. Presented in this paper are examples of some of those results.