High resolution tomography using analog coding

As part of a 30-year program in the development of positron instrumentation, the authors have developed a high resolution bismuth germanate (BGO) ring tomography (PCR) employing 360 detectors and 90 photomultiplier tubes for one plane. The detectors are shaped as trapezoid and are 4 mm wide at the front end. When assembled, they form an essentially continuous cylindrical detector. Light from a scintillation in the detector is viewed through a cylindrical light pipe by the photomultiplier tubes. By use of an analog coding scheme, the detector emitting light is identified from the phototube signals. In effect, each phototube can identify four crystals. PCR is designed as a static device and does not use interpolative motion. This results in considerable advantage when performing dynamic studies. PCR is the positron tomography analog of the γ-camera widely used in nuclear medicine