First prototyping of a dedicated PET system with the hemisphere detector arrangement

A strong demand is expected for high-sensitivity, high-resolution and low-cost brain positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for early diagnosis of dementia, as well as for general neuroscience studies. Therefore, we have proposed novel geometries of a hemisphere detector arrangement for high-sensitivity brain imaging, in which an add-on detector at the chin position or neck position helps in sensitivity uniformity improvement. In this study, we developed the first prototype system for proof-of-concept using four-layer depth-of-interaction detectors, each of which consisted of 16  ×  16  ×  4 Zr-doped GSO crystals with dimensions of 2.8  ×  2.8  ×  7.5 mm³ and a high-sensitivity 64-channel flat-panel photomultiplier tube. We used 47 detectors to form a hemisphere detector with a hemisphere shape of 25 cm inner diameter and 50 cm outer diameter, and we used seven detectors for each of the add-on detectors. The total detector number of 54 was about one-fourth that of a typical whole-body PET scanner. The hemisphere detector for the prototype system was realized by multiple rings having different numbers of detectors and a cross-shaped top detector unit covering the top. Performance evaluation showed uniform spatial resolutions of 3-4 mm by the filtered back-projection method. Imaging tests of a hot-rod phantom done with an iterative method were able to resolve 2.2 mm rods. Peak sensitivity was measured as more than 10% at a region near the top of the head, which was achieved with the help of the top detector unit. In addition, using the prototype system, we performed the first FDG clinical test with a healthy volunteer. The results showed that the proposed geometries had high potential for realizing high-sensitivity, high-resolution, and low-cost brain PET imaging. As for the add-on detector position, it was shown that the neck position resulted in higher sensitivity and wider field of view (FOV) than the chin position because the add-on detector at the neck position can be placed continuously to the hemisphere detector and close to the FOV.