Internal-gain CMOS APS Camera for SPECT Imaging of Small Animals

描述（申请人提供）：核医学技术，如SPECT和PET是体内生物过程功能成像的强大工具。最近，在小动物的人类疾病模型的开发方面取得了重大进展。SPECT和PET的一个关键优势是它们允许非侵入性地获得功能信息，因此在纵向设计的研究中，每只动物都可以作为自己的对照。传统上，在实验动物研究中使用核医学的主要障碍是空间分辨率差、成本和可及性。临床放射性核素系统不适合用于小动物研究。本文研究了一个高空间分辨率SPECT探测器的构建，该探测器由一个Csl （Tl掺杂）闪烁阵列和一个对齐的、节距匹配的CMOS相机芯片组成。cmos相机芯片将像素级读出元件与内部增益CMOS-APD像素集成在一个单片器件中。该技术将APD探测器的高增益、高带宽检测能力与CMOS有源像素传感器相机芯片的高空间分辨率、高像素数和低成本相结合。设计和制造连接到一个音高匹配闪烁阵列的CMOS相机代表了主要的里程碑。总之，我们将推进CMOS成像技术，生产用于小动物SPECT成像的专用相机。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nuclear medicine techniques such as SPECT and PET are powerful tools for functional imaging of biological processes in vivo. Recently, there have been significant advances in development of human disease models in small animals. A critical advantage of SPECT and PET is that they allow functional information to be obtained non-invasively, so each animal can serve as its own control in studies with a longitudinal design. The main barriers to using nuclear medicine in studies of laboratory animals have traditionally been poor spatial-resolution, cost and accessibility. Clinical radionuclide systems are not suitable for small animal research. This work investigates the construction of a high spatial-resolution SPECT detector composed of a Csl (Tl- doped) scintillation array and an aligned, pitch-matched CMOS camera chip. The CMOS-camera chip integrates the pixel-level readout components with the internal-gain CMOS-APD pixels in a monolithic device. This technology combines the high-gain, high-bandwidth detection capabilities of APD detectors with the high-spatial resolution, high-pixel count, and low cost of CMOS active-pixel-sensor camera chips. The design and fabrication of the CMOS camera connected to a pitch-matched scintillation array represent the major milestones. In summary, we will advance CMOS imaging technology to produce an application- specific camera for small-animal SPECT imaging.