Experimental sub-millimeter resolution with a small-animal RPC-PET prototype

Author

Martins, Pedro ; Crespo, Paulo ; Ferreira Marques, Rui ; Kajetanowicz, Marcin ; Korcyl, Grzegorz ; Lopes, Luis ; Michel, J. ; Palka, Marek ; Traxler, Michael ; Fonte, Paulo

Author_Institution

Phys. Dept., Univ. of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

fYear

2012

fDate

Oct. 27 2012-Nov. 3 2012

Firstpage

3760

Lastpage

3764

Abstract

A small-animal, positron emission tomograph based on resistive plate chamber detectors has been proposed (RPC-PET). We present experimental results of a system with submillimeter spatial resolution. An identification of the five gaps of the detectors was accomplished, allowing to measure the depth-of-interaction (DOl), and rendering parallax-free images. By imaging a ²²Na disk source, a spatial resolution of 0.8 mm FWHM was demonstrated for the full area, covering all LOR angles. A 3D reconstruction routine based on the maximum-likelihood estimation maximization (MLEM) algorithm was implemented. Reconstructed images are presented reproducing the disk shape of the source.

Keywords

image reconstruction; image resolution; maximum likelihood estimation; medical image processing; positron emission tomography; 3D reconstruction routine; ²²Na disk source; DOl; FWHM; LOR angles; MLEM algorithm; depth-of-interaction; experimental submillimeter resolution; image reconstruction; maximum-likelihood estimation maximization algorithm; parallax-free images; resistive plate chamber detectors; small-animal RPC-PET prototype; small-animal positron emission tomograph; source disk shape; submillimeter spatial resolution;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC), 2012 IEEE

Conference_Location

Anaheim, CA

ISSN

1082-3654

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2028-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NSSMIC.2012.6551863

Filename

6551863