Status and perspectives of the PETALO project

PETALO (Positron Emission Tof Apparatus with Liquid xenOn) is a novel concept for positron emission tomography scanners, which uses liquid xenon as a scintillation medium and silicon photomultipliers as a readout. The large scintillation yield and the fast scintillation time of liquid xenon, as well as its scalability, makes it an excellent candidate for PET scanners with time-of-flight measurements, especially for total-body machines. A first prototype of PETALO, devoted to demonstrate the potential of the concept, measuring the energy and time resolution and to test technical solutions for a complete ring is fully operational. The prototype consists of an aluminum box filled with liquid xenon, with two arrays of SiPMs on opposite sides facing the xenon. A beta+ emitter source generating 511-keV pairs of gammas is placed in a central port and the SiPMs record the scintillation light produced by the gamma interactions, allowing for the reconstruction of the position, the energy and the time of the interactions.

Automated summary

PETALO is a novel positron emission tomography scanner that uses liquid xenon as a scintillation medium and silicon photomultipliers as a readout. Its large scintillation yield and fast scintillation time make it suitable for total-body machines. The first prototype has demonstrated the potential of the concept.