Development of Positron Emission Tomography using Liquid Xenon Scintillation Detector System

液体Xe的性质被认为有利于应用于飞行时间位置发射层析成像(TOF-PET)。在此之前，我们利用光电倍增管(PMT)构建了一个可以工作在液体氙气温度下的液体Xe TOF-PET探测器原型，并对其性能进行了研究。然而，它们的低量子效率和低增益不足以用于TOF-PET。最近，滨松光电子株式会社研制出了在液体Xe中量子效率提高5倍、增益提高10倍的新型PMT。用这些新型PMT构建了PET探测器原型，并对其进行了测试。其能量分辨率为15.9%(半高宽)，位置分辨率为2.1-3.5 mm(半高宽)，时间分辨率为260ps(半高宽)。

The properties of liquid Xe are considered to be advantageous for application to time-of-flight position emission tomography (TOF-PET). Previously, we constructed a prototype liquid Xe TOF-PET detector using photomultiplier tubes(PMT), which can operate at liquid xenon temperature, and investigated their performance. Their poor quantum efficiency and low gain, however, were not sufficient for use in TOF-PET. Recently, new PMTs with five times higher quantum efficiency in liquid Xe and ten times higher gain than previous PMTs have been developed by Hamamatsu Photonics Co. The prototype PET detectors, presented here, were constructed using these new PMTs and tested. An energy resolution of 15.9% (FWHM), a position resolution of 2.1- 3.5mm (FWHM), and a timing resolution of 260 ps (FWHM) were achieved.