Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are dense arrays of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) operated in Geiger mode aimed at detecting visible light. Due to their high gain, low noise, low bias voltage and insensitivity to magnetic fields, SiPMs are ideal photodetectors for positron emission tomography (PET) and PET/MRI.
We are developing TOF-PET detector modules based on different configurations of SiPMs and scintillation crystal arrays for different clinical PET applications such as whole-body PET and organ-dedicated PET. Our goal is to develop clinical TOF-PET with a timing resolution better than 100 ps.
We are also working on the development and evaluation of position-sensitive SiPM (PS-SiPM) for PET applications in collaboration with Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK, Trento, Italy) and Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc (RMD, Watertown, MA, USA). Our aim is to develop small-animal PETs with approaching the physics limited resolution (~0.5 mm) and high-sensitivity (>10%).
(Left) Photograph of a 2 × 2 array of 7.75 mm × 7.75 mm PS-SiPM. (Right) A scanner schematic of a high-resolution micro-EXPLORER PET for small animal.
Publications
Du, X. Bai and S. R. Cherry, Performance comparison of depth-encoding detectors based on dual-ended readout and different SiPMs for high-resolution PET applications, Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol.64, pp.15NT03, Aug. 2019.
Du, X. Bai, A. Gola, A. Ferri, C. Piemonte, Y. Yang and S. R. Cherry, Performance of a high-resolution depth-encoding PET detector module using linearly-graded SiPM, Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol.63, pp.035035, Feb. 2018.
Du, J. Schmall, M. Judenhofer, K. Di, Y. Yang and S. R. Cherry, A time-walk correction method for PET based on leading edge discriminators, IEEE Transactions on Radiation and Plasma Medical Science, vol.1, no.5, pp.385-390, Sep. 2017.
Du, Y. Yang, X. Bai, M. S. Judenhofer, E. Berg, K. Di, S. Buckley, C. Jackson and S. R. Cherry, Characterization of large-area SiPM array for PET applications, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, vol.63, no.1, pp.8-16, Feb. 2016.
Contact
Junwei Du, jwdu@ucdavis.edu