Performance characterization of a new high resolution PET scintillation detector

Performance of a new high resolution PET detection concept is presented. In this new concept, annihilation radiation enters the scintillator detectors edge-on. Each detector module comprises two 8 x 8 LYSO scintillator arrays of 0.91 x 0.91 x 1 mm(3) crystals coupled to two position-sensitive avalanche photodiodes (PSAPDs) mounted on a flex circuit. Appropriate crystal segmentation allows the recording of all three spatial coordinates of the interaction(s) simultaneously with submillimeter resolution. We report an average energy resolution of 14.6 +/- 1.7% for 511 keV photons at FWHM. Coincident time resolution was determined to be 2.98 +/- 0.13 ns FWHM on average. The coincidence point spread function (PSF) has an average FWHM of 0.837 +/- 0.049 mm (using a 500 mu m spherical source) and is uniform across the arrays. Both PSF and coincident time resolution degrade when Compton interactions are included in the data. Different blurring factors were evaluated theoretically, resulting in a calculated PSF of 0.793 mm, in good agreement with the measured value.