RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 PennPET Explorer: Design and Preliminary Performance of a Whole-Body Imager
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 136
OP 143
DO 10.2967/jnumed.119.229997
VO 61
IS 1
A1 Joel S. Karp
A1 Varsha Viswanath
A1 Michael J. Geagan
A1 Gerd Muehllehner
A1 Austin R. Pantel
A1 Michael J. Parma
A1 Amy E. Perkins
A1 Jeffrey P. Schmall
A1 Matthew E. Werner
A1 Margaret E. Daube-Witherspoon
YR 2020
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/61/1/136.abstract
AB We report on the development of the PennPET Explorer whole-body imager. Methods: The PennPET Explorer is a multiring system designed with a long axial field of view. The imager is scalable and comprises multiple 22.9-cm-long ring segments, each with 18 detector modules based on a commercial digital silicon photomultiplier. A prototype 3-segment imager has been completed and tested with an active 64-cm axial field of view. Results: The instrument design is described, and its physical performance measurements are presented. These include sensitivity of 55 kcps/MBq, spatial resolution of 4.0 mm, energy resolution of 12%, timing resolution of 256 ps, and a noise-equivalent count rate above 1,000 kcps beyond 30 kBq/mL. After an evaluation of lesion torso phantoms to characterize quantitative accuracy, human studies were performed on healthy volunteers. Conclusion: The physical performance measurements validated the system design and led to high-quality human studies.