Monte Carlo simulation of intrinsic count rate performance of a scintillation camera for diagnostic images

This paper describes Monte Carlo simulation of intrinsic count rate performance of a scintillation gamma camera. MCNP Monte Carlo code was employed to calculate pulse height spectrum and detector efficiency. A custom code written in Fortran language was then developed to simulate, by Monte Carlo method, the distortion in pulse height spectrum due to the pile-up effect for paralyzable and nonparalyzable systems. The results of the simulations, compared with the experimental measurement of count rate performance, showed a good agreement between the two different approaches.