Silicon photomultiplier based TOF-PET detector

US11828891B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Robert A. Mintzer · Knoxville, US
• James Christopher Arnott · Knoxville, US
• Mehmet Aykac · Knoxville, US
• Johannes Breuer · Dortmund, DE
• Sanghee Cho · Knoxville, US
• Peter Hansen · Canaan, US
• Maciej P. Kapusta · Knoxville, US
• James L. Corbeil · Knoxville, US
• Nan Zhang · San Diego, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 9, 2019
• Grant date: Nov 28, 2023
• Expiry date: Jan 23, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01R33/481
• WIPO field: Environmental technology
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A scintillation block detector employs an array of optically air coupled scintillation pixels, the array being wrapped in reflector material and optically coupled to an array of silicon photomultiplier light sensors with common-cathode signal timing pickoff and individual anode signal position and energy determination. The design features afford an optimized combination of photopeak energy event sensitivity and timing, while reducing electronic circuit complexity and power requirements, and easing necessary fabrication methods. Four of these small blocks, or “miniblocks,” can be combined as optically and electrically separated quadrants of a larger single detector in order to recover detection efficiency that would otherwise be lost due to scattering between them. Events are validated for total energy by summing the contributions from the four quadrants, while the trigger is generated from either the timing signal of the quadrant with the highest energy deposition, the first timing signal derived from the four quadrant time-pickoff signals, or a statistically optimum combination of the individual quadrant event times, so as to maintain good timing for scatter events. This further r…