• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2023

In preclinical positron emisson tomography(PET), spatial resolution degradation occurs outside the field of view(FOV). To solve this problem, a depth of interaction(DOI) detector was developed that measures the position where gamma rays and the scintillator interact. There are a method in which a scintillation pixel array is composed of multiple layers, a method in which photosensors are arranged at both ends of a single layer, a method in which a scintillation pixel array is constituted in several layers and a photosensor is arranged in each layer. In this study, a new type of DOI detector was designed by analyzing the characteristics of the previously developed detectors. In the two-layer detector, different sizes of scintillation pixels were used for each layer, and the array size was configured differently. When configured in this form, the positions of the scintillation pixels for each layer are arranged to be shifted from each other, so that they are imaged at different positions in a flood image. DETECT2000 simulation was performed to confirm the possibility of measuring the depth of interaction of the designed detector. A flood image was reconstructed from a light signal acquired by a gamma-ray event generated at the center of each scintillation pixel. As a result, it was confirmed that all scintillation pixels for each layer were separated from the reconstructed flood image and imaged to measure the interaction depth. When this detector is applied to preclinical PET, it is considered that excellent images can be obtained by improving spatial resolution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.365-371
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• 2022

In order to obtain excellent spatial resolution in the PET detector, when the detector module is designed using very small scintillation pixels, overlap occurs at the edges and corners of the scintillation pixel array in the flood image. By using a light guide, the occurrence of overlap can be reduced. In this study, after using a scintillator of 0.8 mm × 0.8 mm × 20 mm to form a 14 × 14 array, 3 mm × 3 mm SiPM pixels are combined with 4 × 4 photosensor to reduce the occurrence of overlap. The optimal thickness of the light guide used for this purpose was derived. Quantitative evaluation was performed based on scintillation pixel images of edges and corners where overlap occurs mainly in the acquired flood image. Quantitative evaluation was calculated through the interval and full width at half maximum between scintillation pixel images, and when a light guide with a thickness of 2 mm was used, the best image was obtained with a k value of 2.60. In addition, as a result of measuring the energy resolution through the energy spectrum, the light guide with a thickness of 2 mm showed the best result at 28.5%. If a 2 mm light guide is used, it is considered that the best flood image and energy resolution with minimal overlap can be obtained.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 1997

We studied optical behavior of scintillation light generated in NaI(TI) crystal using Monte Carlo simulation method. The simulation was performed for the model of NaI(TI) scintillator (size: 60 mm ${\times}$ 60 mm ${\times}$ 6 mm) using an optical tracking code. The sensitivity as a function of surface treatment (Ground, Polished, Metal-0.95RC, Polished-0.98RC, Painted- 0.98RC) of the incident surface of the scintillator was compared. The effects of NaI(TI) scintillator thickness and the refractive index of light guide optically coupling between the NaI(TI) scintillator and photomultiplier tube (PMT) were simulated. We also evaluated intrinsic position resolution of the system by calculating the spread of scintillation light generated. The sensitivities of the system having the surface treatment of Ground, Polished, Metal-0.95RC, Polished-0.98RC and Painted-0.98RC were 70.9％, 73.9％, 78.6％, 80.1％ and 85.2％, respectively, and the surface treatment of Painted-0.98RC allowed the highest sensitivity. As increasing the thickness of scintillation crystal and light guide, the sensitivity of the system was decreased. As the refractive index of light guide increases, the sensitivity was increased. The intrinsic position resolution of the system was estimated to be 1.2 mm in horizontal and vertical directions. In this study, the performance of NaI(TI)-PMT detector system was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulation. Based on the results, we concluded that the NaI(TI)-PMT detector array is a favorable configuration for small gamma camera imaging breast tumor using Tc-99m labeled radiopharmaceuticals.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.479-487
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• 2015

The thallium-doped sodium iodide [NaI(Tl)] scintillation detector is preferred as a gamma spectrometer in many fields because of its general advantages. A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) has recently been developed and its application area has been expanded as an alternative to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). It has merits such as a low operating voltage, compact size, cheap production cost, and magnetic resonance compatibility. In this study, an array of SiPMs is used to develop an NaI(Tl) gamma spectrometer. To maintain detection efficiency, a commercial NaI(Tl) $2^{\prime}{\times}2^{\prime}$ scintillator is used, and a light guide is used for the transport and collection of generated photons from the scintillator to the SiPMs without loss. The test light guides were fabricated with polymethyl methacrylate and reflective materials. The gamma spectrometer systems were set up and included light guides. Through a series of measurements, the characteristics of the light guides and the proposed gamma spectrometer were evaluated. Simulation of the light collection was accomplished using the DETECT 97 code (A. Levin, E. Hoskinson, and C. Moison, University of Michigan, USA) to analyze the measurement results. The system, which included SiPMs and the light guide, achieved 14.11% full width at half maximum energy resolution at 662 keV.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.703-708
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• 2022

A detector module measuring the depth of interaction(DOI) was designed to improve the spatial resolution of positron emission tomography(PET). The scintillation pixel array consists of two layers, and a light guide is inserted between the layers to make the light generated through the gamma-ray event different for each layer. There are four light guides, and one light guide is designed to be coupled to a 2 × 2 array of scintillation pixels. The light generated from the top layer is moved to the photosensor with a wider distribution through the light guide, and the light generated from the bottom layer is incident on the photosensor with a narrower distribution than the top layer. When a flood image is reconstructed based on the signals obtained from the photosensor by different distributions, scintillation pixels are imaged at different positions for each layer. To verify this, a DETECT2000 simulation tool that simulates the behavior of light in a scintillator was used. By designing a scintillation pixel array, a detector consisting of a light guide and a photosensor, a gamma ray event was generated in all scintillation pixels to obtain a flood imgae. As a result, it was confirmed that the top and bottom layers were imaged at different positions and completely separated. When this detector is applied to PET, it is considered that image quality can be improved through imporved spatial resolution.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.155-158
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• 2010

Digital radiographic systems allow the implementation of a fully digital picture archiving and communication system (PACS), and provide the greater dynamic range of digital detectors with possible reduction of X-ray exposure to the patient. This article reviewed the basic physical principles of digital radiographic imaging system in dental clinics generally. Digital radiography can be divided into computed radiography (CR) and direct radiography (DR). CR systems acquire digital images using phosphor storage plates (PSP) with a separate image readout process. On the other hand, DR systems convert X-rays into electrical charges by means of a direct readout process. DR systems can be further divided into direct and indirect conversion systems depending on the type of X-ray conversion. While a direct conversion requires a photoconductor that converts X-ray photons into electrical charges directly, in an indirect conversion, lightsensitive sensors such as CCD or a flat-panel detector convert visible light, proportional to the incident X-ray energy by a scintillator, into electrical charges. Indirect conversion sensors using CCD or CMOS without lens-coupling are used in intraoral radiography. CR system using PSP is mainly used in extraoral radiographic system and a linear array CCD or CR sensors, in panoramic system. Currently, the digital radiographic system is an important subject in the dental field. Most studies reported that no significant difference in diagnostic performance was found between the digital and conventional systems. To accept advances in technology and utilize benefits provided by the systems, the continuous feedback between doctors and manufacturers is essential.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.164-169
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• 2020

Use of SiPM has been considered as an alternative to PMT, because of its compact size, low-operating voltage, non-sensitive to electromagnetic, low costs and so on. The main limitation for the use of SiPM is due to its small sensitive area compared to PMT that limits the light collection, and therefore the sensor energy resolution. In this article we studied the effect of increasing the number of SiPM by connecting them in parallel to increase the active detection area. This allowed us to compare the different energy resolution measurements. ¹³⁷Cs has been selected as reference to study the energy resolution for 662 keV gamma-rays. Another investigation was to compare the minimum detectable gamma energy under various SiPM configurations. It has been found that the use of 4 SiPM arrays can greatly improve the energy resolution up to 4% than only one SiPM array, meanwhile use of more than 2 SiPM arrays does not increase the energy resolution significantly. Thus we can conclude that for a large area of cylindrical scintillator (3 × 3 inches), the use of SiPMs are limited to a certain number or certai active area depending on the commercial SiPMs, and its cost should be less than traditional PMT for the cost-effective and compact size considerations. It is well known that the gain of SiPM varies with temperature. In this article, we also calibrated gain to guarantee the same position of photoelectric peak in response of different temperatures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 2022

A detector using a small number of photosensors was designed, and the position of a scintillation pixel that interacted with gamma rays through a maximum likelihood position estimation(MLPE) was measured as a digital position. For this purpose, simulation was performed using DETECT2000, which can simulate the movement of light within the scintillator, and the accuracy of position measurement was evaluated. A detector was configured using a 6 × 6 scintillation pixel array and 4 photosensors, and a gamma ray event was generated at the center of each scintillation pixel to create a look-up table through the ratio of acquired light. The gamma-ray event generated at the new position was applied as the input value of the MLPE, and the positiion of the scintillation pixel was converted into a digital positiion after comparison with the look-up table. All scintillation pixels were evaluated, and as a result, a high accuracy of 99.1% was obtained. When this method is applied to the currently usesd system, it is concidered that the process of determining the position of the scintillation pixel will be simplified.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.287-292
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• 2008

Position information of radiation interactions in detection material is essential to reconstruct a radiation source image. With most position sensing techniques, the position information of a single interaction inside the detectors can be precisely obtained. Each interaction position of multi-scattering inside scintillators, however, can not be individually measured and only the average of the scattering positions can be obtained, which causes the uncertainty in the measured interaction position. In this paper, the position uncertainties due to the multi-scattering were calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. The simulation model was a 50 by 50 by 5 mm $LaCl_3$(Ce) scintillator(pixel size is 2 by 2 by 5mm) which was utilized for the dual collimation camera. The dual collimation camera uses the information from both photoelectric effect and Compton scattering, and therefore, position uncertainties for both partial and full energy deposition of radiation interactions are calculated. In the case of partial energy deposition(PED), the standard deviations of positions are less than $1{\sim}2mm$, which means the uncertainty caused by multi-scattering is not significant. Because the effect of the multi-scattering with PED is insignificant, the multi-scattering has little effect on the performance of Compton imaging of dual collimation camera. In the case of full energy deposition(FED), however, the standard deviation of the positions is about twice that of the pixel size of the 1stdetector, except for 122keV incident radiations. Therefore, the standard deviations caused by multi-scatterings should be considered in the design of the coded mask of the dual collimation camera to avoid artifact on the reconstructed image. The position uncertainties of the FEDs are much larger than those of the PEDs for all radiation energies and the ratio of PEDs to FEDs increases when the incident radiation energy increases. The position uncertainties of both PEDs and FEDs are dependent on the incident radiation energy.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.162-168
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• 2012

In proton therapy, in vivo dose verification is one of the most important parts to fully utilize characteristics of proton dose distribution concentrating high dose with steep gradient and guarantee the patient safety. Currently, in order to image the proton dose distribution, a prompt gamma distribution detection system, which consists of an array of multiple CsI(Tl) scintillation detectors in the vertical direction, a collimator, and a multi-channel DAQ system is under development. In the present study, the optimal design of prompt gamma distribution detection system was studied by Monte Carlo simulations using the MCNPX code. For effective measurement of high-energy prompt gammas with enough imaging resolution, the dimensions of the CsI(Tl) scintillator was determined to be $6{\times}6{\times}50mm^3$. In order to maximize the detection efficiency for prompt gammas while minimizing the contribution of background gammas generated by neutron captures, the hole size and the length of the collimator were optimized as $6{\times}6mm^2$ and 150 mm, respectively. Finally, the performance of the detection system optimized in the present study was predicted by Monte Carlo simulations for a 150 MeV proton beam. Our result shows that the detection system in the optimal dimensions can effectively measure the 2D prompt gamma distribution and determine the beam range within 1 mm errors for 150 MeV proton beam.