Simulation of scintillation light output in LYSO scintillators through a full factorial design

Individually coupled scintillation detectors used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging suffer from important signal losses due to the suboptimal light collection from crystals. As only a fraction of the light is generally extracted from long and thin scintillators, it is important to identify and understand the predominant causes of signal loss in order to eventually recover it. This simulation study investigates the multiple factors affecting the light transport in high-aspect ratio LYSO scintillators wrapped in specular reflectors through a full factorial design. By exploring various combinations of crystal geometry, readout conditions and wrapping conditions, it was found that an optimum light output can only be achieved through a careful selection of highly reflective material along with high-transmittance optical adhesive used to bond the reflector. Decreasing the adhesive thickness was also found to have a positive outcome in most explored configurations, however to a much lesser extent. Suboptimal reflectivity and adhesive transmittance also lead to an asymmetric light output distribution dependent on the depth of interaction of the radiation, potentially degrading energy resolution. By identifying the factors causing the most significant scintillation light losses through a factorial design, the most promising detector configurations have been identified in the quest for optimal light collection from scintillators. (paper)