Performance evaluation of a sub-millimeter spatial resolution PET detector module using a digital silicon photomultiplier coupled LGSO array

In positron emission tomography (PET) for breast, brain and small animal imaging, the spatial resolution of a PET detector is crucial to obtain high quality PET images. In this study, a PET detector for sub-millimeter spatial resolution imaging purpose was assembled using 4×4 pixels of a digital silicon photomultiplier (dSiPM, DPC-3200-22-44, Philips) coupled with a 15×15 LGSO array with BaSO₄ reflector, and a 1 mm thick acrylic light guide for light distribution between the dSiPM pixels. The active area of each dSiPM pixel was 3.2×3.9 mm² and the size of each LGSO scintillator element was 0.7×0.7×6 mm³. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrated the performance of the PET detector by measuring the energy resolution, 2D flood map, peak to valley (P/V) ratio, and coincidence resolving time (CRT). All measurements were performed at a temperature of 10±1 ℃. The average energy resolution was 15.6% (without correcting for saturation effects) at 511 keV and the best CRT was 242±5 ps. The 2D flood map obtained with an energy window of 400–600 keV demonstrated clear identification of all pixels, and the average P/V ratio of the X- and Y-directions were 7.31 and 7.81, respectively. This study demonstrated that the PET detector could be suitable for application in high resolution PET while achieving good timing resolution.