New continuous miniature crystal element (cMiCE) detector geometries

Continuous miniature crystal element (cMiCE) detectors are a potentially lower cost alternative to high resolution discrete crystal designs. We report on the intrinsic spatial resolution performance for two cMiCE PET detector designs with depth of interaction (DOI) positioning capability. The first detector utilizes a 50 mm by 50 mm by 8 mm LYSO crystal coupled to a 64 channel, multi-anode PMT. It provides 4 layers of DOI information. The crystal has beveled edges along two of its sides to improve the detector packing when placed in a ring geometry. The second detector utilizes a 50 mm by 50 mm by 15 mm, rectangular LYSO crystal coupled to a 64 channel, multi-anode PMT. It provides up to 15 layers of DOI information. The average intrinsic X, Y spatial resolution for the 8 mm thick, truncated crystal detector was 1.33 +/- 0.31 mm FWHM (45.6 mm by 46.6 mm useful imaging area). The average DOI resolution was 3.5 +/- 0.22 mm. The average intrinsic X, Y spatial resolution for the 15 mm thick crystal detector was 1.74 +/- 0.35 mm FWHM (44.6 mm by 44.6 mm useful imaging area). In addition, the average DOI spatial resolution for 56 test points spanning a 26.4 mm by 12.2 mm region of the crystal was 4.80 +/- 0.36 mm. We believe the 8 mm thick truncated crystal design is suitable for mouse imaging while the 15 mm thick crystal design is more suited for human organ specific imaging systems (e.g., breast and brain).