Development of ultrahigh resolution Si-PM-based PET system using 0.32 mm pixel scintillators

Ultrahigh resolution small animal PET systems require small pixel size scintillators. We developed an ultrahigh resolution small animal PET system using fine LYSO pixels, which were 0.32 mm×0.5 mm×5.0 mm. The LYSO pixels were combined into a 22×15 matrix with a 0.1 mm thick BaSO₄ reflector between them. The LYSO block was 9.24 mm×9.0 mm×5 mm, and it was optically coupled to a 4×4 through silicon via silicon photomultiplier (TSV Si-PM) array that has smaller gaps between channels with a 1-mm thick light guide. We made eight Si-PM-based block detectors and arranged them octagonally to form a PET detector ring. At the center, the spatial resolution of the developed PET system, which was reconstructed by filtered back projection (FBP), was 0.6-mm FWHM. The sensitivity at the axial center was 0.5%. The peak noise equivalent count rate (NECR) was 12.5 k cps. We obtained high resolution images of phantoms and small animals with the developed PET system. With these results, we conclude that a high resolution PET system is possible with 0.32 mm pixel LYSO scintillators.