Three-gamma annihilation imaging in positron emission tomography

Author

Kacperski, Krzysztof ; Spyrou, Nicholas M. ; Smith, F. Alan

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Univ. of Surrey, Guildford, UK

Volume

23

Issue

4

fYear

2004

fDate

4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

525

Lastpage

529

Abstract

It is argued that positron annihilation into three photons, although quite rare, could still be used as a new imaging modality of positron emission tomography. The information gained when the three decay photons are detected is significantly higher than in the case of 511 keV two-gamma annihilation. The performance of three-gamma imaging in terms of the required detector properties, spatial resolution and counting rates is discussed. A simple proof-of-principle experiment confirms the feasibility of the new imaging method.

Keywords

image resolution; medical image processing; photons; positron annihilation; positron emission tomography; counting rates; positron annihilation; positron emission tomography; spatial resolution; three-gamma annihilation imaging; Biomedical imaging; Detectors; Electrons; High-resolution imaging; In vivo; Object detection; Physics; Positron emission tomography; Single photon emission computed tomography; Spatial resolution; Feasibility Studies; Gamma Cameras; Gamma Rays; Image Enhancement; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Photons; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography, Emission-Computed;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Medical Imaging, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0278-0062

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMI.2004.824150

Filename

1282006