Strategies for mitigating inter-crystal scattering effects in positron emission tomography: a comprehensive review

Inter-crystal scattering (ICS) events in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) present challenges affecting system sensitivity and image quality. Understanding the physics and factors influencing ICS occurrence is crucial for developing strategies to mitigate its impact. This review paper explores the physics behind ICS events and their occurrence within PET detectors. Various methodologies, including energy-based comparisons, Compton kinematics-based approaches, statistical methods, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, which have been proposed for identifying and recovering ICS events accurately are introduced. Energy-based methods offer simplicity by comparing energy depositions in crystals. Compton kinematics-based approaches utilize trajectory information for first interaction position estimation, yielding reasonably good results. Additionally, statistical approach and AI algorithms contribute by optimizing likelihood analysis and neural network models for improved positioning accuracy. Experimental validations and simulation studies highlight the potential of recovering ICS events and enhancing PET sensitivity and image quality. Especially, AI technologies offers a promising avenue for addressing ICS challenges and improving PET image accuracy and resolution. These methods offer promising solutions for overcoming the challenges posed by ICS events and enhancing the accuracy and resolution of PET imaging, ultimately improving diagnostic capabilities and patient outcomes. Further studies applying these approaches to real PET systems are needed to validate theoretical results and assess practical implementation feasibility.