The effect of detector performance on high countrate PET imaging with a tomograph based on position-sensitive detectors

During dynamic studies, ECT systems employing large position-sensitive detectors are forced to handle high event rates per detector. Since detector performance is likely to change with data rate, it is important to understand the effect of changes in detector behavior on image quality. To determine the ability of the PENN-PET tomograph to perform high countrate scans, the authors studied detector performance up to singles rates in excess of 2 million counts per second per detector. In order to evaluate the quality of images resulting from data acquired at these rates, signal-to-noise ratio analyses were applied to both simulated and experimental high countrate images of a cold spot phantom. Changes in image quality were quantitated, allowing us to test combinations of high countrate event processing techniques to produce optimal high countrate images