• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
• /
• v.1998 no.11
• /
• pp.303-304
• /
• 1998

We investigated the effects of scintillation crystal surface treatment on gamma camera imaging. The NaI(Tl) and CsI(Tl) (20 mm (dia.) $\times10mm$ (thick) plate) scintillators were chosen for this study. Two different surface treatments, white and black reflectors, were applied to NaI(Tl) and CsI(Tl). The optical properties of generated scintillation light were evaluated using Monte Carlo simulation and postion sensitive photo multiplier tube (PSPMT). We measured sensitivity, energy resolution and spatial resolution of a gamma camera system with the scintillators coupled to a PSPMT. Based on the results, we concluded that the careful consideration of surface treatments of the scintillator was necessary in order to develop the gamma camera having good sensitivity and spatial resolution.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.10
• /
• pp.2346-2352
• /
• 2020

Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the noninvasive method to diagnose osteoporosis disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue. Many global companies and research groups have developed the various DXA detectors using a direct photon-counting detector such as a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) sensor. However, this approach using CZT sensor has some drawback such as the limitation of scalability by high cost and the loss of efficiency due to the requirement of a thin detector. In this study, a SiPM based DXA system was developed and its performance evaluated experimentally. The DXA detector was composed of a SiPM sensor coupled with a single LYSO scintillation crystal (3 × 3 × 2 ㎣). The prototype DXA detector was mounted on the dedicated front-end circuit consisting of a voltage-sensitive preamplifier, pulse shaping amplifier and constant fraction discriminator (CFD) circuit. The SiPM based DXA detector showed the 34% (at 59 keV) energy resolution with good BMD accuracy. The proposed SiPM based DXA detector showed the performance comparable to the conventional DXA detector based on CZT.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.661-666
• /
• 2019

Diverging collimators is used to obtain reduced images of an object, or to detect a wide filed-of-view (FOV) using a small gamma camera. In the gamma camera using the diverging collimators, the block scintillator, and the pixel scintillator array, gamma rays are obliquely incident on the scintillator surface when the source is located the periphery of the FOV. Therefore, the spatial resolution is reduced because it is obliquely detected in depth direction. In this study, we designed a novel system to improve the spatial resolution in the periphery of the FOV. Using a tapered crystal array to configure the scintillation pixels to coincide with the angle of the collimator's hole allows imaging to one scintillation pixel location, even if events occur to different depths. That is, even if is detected at various points in the diagonal direction, the gamma rays interact with one crystal pixel, so resolution does not degrade. The resolution of the block scintillator and the tapered crystal array was compared and evaluated through Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) simulation. The spatial resolution of the obtained image was 4.05 mm in the block scintillator and 2.97 mm in the tapered crystal array. There was a 26.67% spatial resolution improvement in the tapered crystal array compared to the block scintillation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.77-84
• /
• 2005

The authors submit the data concerning the methods of obtaining semiconductor scintillators on the basis of the zinc chalcogenide crystal doped with impurities (Te, Cd, O, $Me^{III}-metals$ Al, In, etc.). Characteristics of such crystals and mechanisms for the semiconductor scintillator luminescence are described as well. The scintillator luminescence spectra maximums are located within the range 450-640nm, which depends on the method of preparing the scintillator. The luminescence decay time ranges within $0.5-10{\mu}s\;and\;30-150{\mu}s$. The afterglow level is less than 0.01% after $10-20{\mu}s$, and the radiation stability is ${\geq}5{\cdot}10^8$ rad. Thermostability of the output characteristics of new semiconductor scintillators on the basis of zinc selenide is prescribed by thermodynamic stability of the principal associative radiative recombination centers that come into existence due to the crystal lattice inherent imperfections. Certain application fields of the new scintillators are examined taking into account their particular qualities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.8
• /
• pp.2640-2645
• /
• 2021

We report the development of a gamma-ray imaging device, named Large-Area Hybrid Gamma Imager (LAHGI), featuring high imaging sensitivity and good imaging resolution over a broad energy range. A hybrid collimation method, which combines mechanical and electronic collimation, is employed for a stable imaging performance based on large-area scintillation detectors for high imaging sensitivity. The system comprises two monolithic position-sensitive NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors with a crystal area of 27 × 27 cm² and a tungsten coded aperture mask with a modified uniformly redundant array (MURA) pattern. The performance of the system was evaluated under several source conditions. The system showed good imaging resolution (i.e., 6.0-8.9° FWHM) for the entire energy range of 59.5-1330 keV considered in the present study. It also showed very high imaging sensitivity, successfully imaging a 253 µCi ¹³⁷Cs source located 15 m away in 1 min; this performance is notable considering that the dose rate at the front surface of the system, due to the existence of the ¹³⁷Cs source, was only 0.003 µSv/h, which corresponds to ~3% of the background level.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.52-60
• /
• 2008

Purpose: To establish the methods for sinogram formation and correction in order to appropriately apply the filtered backprojection (FBP) reconstruction algorithm to the data acquired using PET scanner with multiple scintillation crystal layers. Materials and Methods: Formation for raw PET data storage and conversion methods from listmode data to histogram and sinogram were optimized. To solve the various problems occurred while the raw histogram was converted into sinogram, optimal sampling strategy and sampling efficiency correction method were investigated. Gap compensation methods that is unique in this system were also investigated. All the sinogram data were reconstructed using 20 filtered backprojection algorithm and compared to estimate the improvements by the correction algorithms. Results: Optimal radial sampling interval and number of angular samples in terms of the sampling theorem and sampling efficiency correction algorithm were pitch/2 and 120, respectively. By applying the sampling efficiency correction and gap compensation, artifacts and background noise on the reconstructed image could be reduced. Conclusion: Conversion method from the histogram to sinogram was investigated for the FBP reconstruction of data acquired using multiple scintillation crystal layers. This method will be useful for the fast 20 reconstruction of multiple crystal layer PET data.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2023

In this study, the thermoluminescence kinetics of electron trap in Li₆Y_0.5Gd_0.5(BO₃)₃ (LY_0.5G_0.5BO) scintillator for neutron detection composed of Li, Gd, and B with a high neutron response cross-section were investigated. The thermoluminescence glow curve of the LY_0.5G_0.5BO scintillation single crystal was measured and analyzed using the peak shape method, the initial rise method, and the machine learning algorithm to evaluate the physical parameters of the electron trap. The glow curve of the LY_0.5G_0.5BO scintillation single crystal consisted of a single peak. As a result of analyzing this peak, the activation energy, emission order, and frequency factor of the electron trap were 0.61 eV, 1.1, and 1.7×10⁷ s^-1, respectively. In addition, the possibility of thermoluminescence analysis of scintillators using machine learning was confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 2002

Luminescence and scintillation properties of $PbWO_{4},\;XAIO_{3}$ (X = Y, Lu, Y-Lu) and $LiBaF_{3}$ based scintillators are reported. The effect of present and often not understood defect states is demonstrated in different scintillator parameters and related measurements are discussed. Importance of understanding of defect states participating in the processes of energy transfer and storage in the scintillating materials is emphasised.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.73-78
• /
• 2015

In this study, a scintillation detector was fabricated using a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) and a Ce:GAGG scintillator single crystal, and its spectroscopic properties were compared with those of commercially available LYSO and CsI:Tl scintillators using ${\gamma}$-ray spectroscopy. The energy resolutions of the self-produced scintillation detector composed of the scintillator single crystal (volume: $3{\times}3{\times}20mm^3$) and SiPM (Photosensitive area: $3{\times}3mm^2$) for standard ${\gamma}$-ray sources, such as $^{133}Ba$, $^{22}Na$, $^{137}Cs$ and $^{60}Co$ were measured and compared. As a result, the energy resolutions of the proposed Ce:GAGG scintillation detector for g-rays, as measured using its spectroscopic properties, were found to be 13.5% for $^{133}Ba$ 0.356 MeV, 6.9% for $^{22}Na$ 0.511 MeV, 5.8% for $^{137}Cs$ 0.662 MeV and 2.3% for $^{60}Co$ 1.33 MeV.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.8 no.7
• /
• pp.455-459
• /
• 2014

We grew the $Li_6Gd(BO_3)_3:Ce^{3+}$ scintillator and determined the scintillation and thermoluminescence properties for X-rays. The emission spectrum of $Li_6Gd(BO_3)_3:Ce^{3+}$ is located in the range of 370~500 nm, peaking at 423 nm an 455 nm, due to the $4f{\rightarrow}5d$ transition of $Ce^{3+}$ ions. The fluorescence decay time of the crystal is composed three components. The fast component is 60 ns (25%), the intermediate component is 787 ns (29%) and the slow component is $5.9{\mu}s$ (46%) of the crystal. The after-glow is caused by the electron and hole traps in the crystal lattice. We determined physical parameters of the traps in the crystal. The thermoluminescence trap are composed two traps. The determined activation energy (E), kinetic order (m) and frequency factor (s) of the first trap are 0.65 eV, 1.01 and $6.9{\times}10^8s^{-1}$. And, the determined activation energy, kinetic order and frequency factor of the second trap are 0.96 eV, 1.79 and $3.1{\times}10^{12 }s^{-1}$, respectively.