Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography with Resistive Plate Chamber Detectors: An Unlikely but Promising Approach

M. Couceiroa,b, P. Crespoa,c, A. Blanco a, N.C. Ferreirad,e, L. Mendesd,e, R. Ferreira Marquesa,c and P. Fontea,b aLaboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas, Departamento de Física, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Larga, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal bInstituto Politécnico de Coimbra, ISEC, Rua Pedro Nunes, Quinta da Nora, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal cDepartamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Larga, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal dInstituto Biomédico de Investigação da Luz e Imagem, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra, Azinhaga Santa Comba, Celas, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal eInstituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra, Azinhaga Santa Comba, Celas, 3004-516 Coimbra, Portugal

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The cost-effectiveness of resistive plate chamber detectors and their very good timing characteristics, open the possibility to build affordable time-of-flight positron emission tomography systems with a large axial field-of-view. Simulations suggest that, under reasonable assumptions, the absolute 3D true sensitivity, spatial resolution, and noise equivalent count rate of such systems for human whole-body screening, may exceed that of present crystal-based PET technology. However, due to the lack of energy resolution, although having energy sensitivity, the scatter fraction is expected to be considerably higher than that presented by crystal-based PET scanners. In the present paper, the simulation work done so far to access the expected performance of a resistive plate chamber time-of-flight-PET system with 2400 mm length axial field-of-view, a time resolution of 300 ps full width at half maximum for photons pairs, and depth-of-interaction information, will be revised.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.127.1453 PACS numbers: 87.57.uk, 29.40.Cs, 87.57.cf, 87.57.cm