Experimental evaluation of a modular scintillation camera for SPECT

A modular scintillation camera has been constructed for use in a ring-type single photon tomograph for Nuclear Medicine. Its performance has been characterized and experiments with coupling the x and y maximum likelihood position estimators and varying the sampling of the scintillation light are described. Average spectral resolution in the x direction is equivalent to a 3.6 mm FWHM Gaussian. In the y direction the response function averages 3.6 mm FWHM. RMS linearity in x is .9 mm and 1.1 mm in y. Potential for improving resolution by increasing the sampling density in x was demonstrated, but a 2-dimensional position estimator would be required to maintain acceptable linearity