Development of high-resolution detector module with depth of interaction identification for positron emission tomography

We have developed a Time-of-flight high resolution and commercially viable detector module for the application in small PET scanners. A new approach to depth of interaction (DOI) encoding with low complexity for a pixelated crystal array using a single side readout and 4-to-1 coupling between scintillators and photodetectors was investigated. In this method the DOI information is estimated using the light sharing technique. The detector module is a $1.53×1.53×15 mm^3$ matrix of 8×8 LYSO scintillator with lateral surfaces optically depolished separated by reflective foils. The crystal array is optically coupled to 4×4 silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) array and readout by a high performance front-end ASIC with TDC capability (50 ps time binning). The results show an excellent crystal identification for all the scintillators in the matrix, a timing resolution of 530 ps, an average DOI resolution of 5.17 mm FWHM and an average energy resolution of 18.29% FWHM.