Design of a high resolution scintillator based SPECT detector (SPECTatress)

SPECT scanners using multi-pinhole collimators benefit from compact detectors having a high spatial resolution. Such detectors can be placed closer to the collimator and perpendicular to the pinhole axis (thereby limiting DOI spatial resolution degradation). Current clinical gamma ray cameras have a large area and a poor spatial resolution. This proceeding describes the architecture of SPECTatress, a compact high resolution gamma camera. The main components (PMT and scintillator) are presented, a brief overview of the read-out electronics is given and a first measurement using the center-of-gravity (COG) event-positioning algorithm is shown. The result of this measurement indicates a good spatial resolution (1.75 mm FWHM) in the center of the detector. Further research has to be done on the event-positioning algorithm to extend the usable detector area and to enhance the spatial resolution. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.