A New Scintillator for Time-of-Flight PET

Scintillation detectors, consisting of inorganic scintillation crystals coupled to photomultiplier tubes, are an important element of medical imaging applications such as positron emission tomography (PET). Yet, the performance of these systems is limited by the properties of the currently available scintillation detectors. If faster scintillators were available, significant advancement in image quality could be achieved by reducing randoms and instituting time-of-flight. This project will investigate a new scintillator that is both fast and bright, and, as a result, promises excellent energy and timing resolution. Reduction in scatter and randoms should lead to significant improvement in image quality for time-of-flight PET. During Phase I, high quality crystals of the new scintillator were produced and their performance was evaluated, specifically for PET. The results confirmed that the new crystals are indeed bright and fast, and provide excellent energy and timing resolution. In Phase II, the crystal growth will be optimized and large crystals will be produced. Scintillation performance of the large crystals will be evaluated in detail. Finally, PET modules based on arrays of the new scintillator will be assembled and evaluated. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: Over and above the use in medical imaging, the new scintillators should be commercially applicable to NDE, geological exploration, homeland security and materials analysis. They also should be useful in nuclear, particle, and space physics experiments