Computational aspects of positron imaging using multiwire proportional chambers in nuclear medicine

The application of multiwire proportional chambers to fields outside high energy physics is becoming increasingly widespread. In nuclear medicine, for the imaging of positron-emitting radionuclides, the high density proportional chamber offers large solid-angle acceptance and good spatial resolution in the final image. The medical data analysis (emission computed tomography) is rather different from that used in high energy physics, being based on reconstruction from projection rather than combinatorial or track-following methods. In this paper we will review some of these differences, and describe the mathematical basis and implementation of an algorithm for emission computed tomography with a proportional chamber positron camera. (orig.)