Wavelength shifter strips and G-APD arrays for the read-out of the z-coordinate in axial PET modules

The measurements presented in this paper are related to the development of a PET camera based on a 3-D axial geometry with excellent 3-D spatial, timing and energy resolution. The detector modules consist of matrices of long axially oriented scintillation crystal bars, which are individually coupled to photodetectors. The axial coordinate is derived from wavelength shifting (WLS) plastic strips orthogonally interleaved between the crystal bars and readout by G-APD arrays. We report on results from measurements with two LYSO crystal bars, read with PMTs, and two WLS strips readout with G-APD devices from Hamamatsu (called MPPC). The WLS strips are positioned orthogonally underneath the LYSO bars. Yields of about 80 photoelectrons from the WLS strips for an energy deposition in the LYSO crystals equivalent to the absorption of 511 keV photons are observed. The axial coordinate in the LYSO bars is reconstructed with a precision of about 1.9 mm (FWHM) using a digital reconstruction method. The resolution of an analog coordinate reconstruction method, which uses the pulse height measurement from the WLS strips is 2.8 mm (FWHM). This resolution is still compromised by the availability of only two WLS strips and will improve with a full stack of LYSO crystals interleaved with WLS strip arrays, which is presently under development for a PET demonstrator set-up.