A Hybrid Parallel Plate gas Counter for medical imaging

We present a multilayer Hybrid Parallel Plates Gas Counter (HPPC) with high spatial and time resolution for small animal PET applications. The HPPC is a gaseous detector operating in avalanche mode, with a glass anode and a metallic cathode, acting also as the photon converter. The signals are induced on a double layer of orthogonal copper strips, providing 2D spatial information and an image resolution of 1–2 mm. Detailed simulations have been performed in order to optimize the operating parameters and to choose the appropriate materials and their thickness.