Estimating the NEMA characteristics of the J-PET tomograph using the GATE package

TL;DR

This paper uses GATE simulations to estimate NEMA characteristics of a novel plastic scintillator-based J-PET whole-body PET system, optimizing its design for improved spatial resolution, sensitivity, and count rate performance.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed NEMA-compliant simulation-based analysis of the J-PET prototype, exploring various geometries and readouts to optimize PET performance.

Findings

Spatial resolution (FWHM) of 3 mm radially and tangentially, 6 mm axially.

NECR peak of 300 kcps at 40 kBq/cc activity.

Sensitivity of 14.9 cps/kBq at the center.

Abstract

The novel whole-body PET system based on plastic scintillators is developed by the {J-PET} Collaboration. It consists of plastic scintillator strips arranged axially in the form of a cylinder, allowing the cost-effective construction of the total-body PET. In order to determine properties of the scanner prototype and optimize its geometry, advanced computer simulations using the GATE software were performed. The spatial resolution, the sensitivity, the scatter fraction and the noise equivalent count rate were estimated according to the NEMA norm as a function of the length of the tomograph, number of the detection layers, diameter of the tomographic chamber and for various types of the applied readout. For the single-layer geometry with the diameter of 85 cm, strip length of 100 cm, cross-section of 4 mm x 20 mm and silicon photomultipliers with the additional layer of wavelength shifter as the readout, the spatial resolution (FWHM) in the centre of the scanner is equal to 3 mm (radial, tangential) and 6 mm (axial). For the analogous double-layer geometry with the same readout, diameter and scintillator length, with the strip cross-section of 7 mm x 20 mm, the NECR peak of 300 kcps was reached at 40 kBq/cc activity concentration, the scatter fraction is estimated to about 35% and the sensitivity at the centre amounts to 14.9 cps/kBq. Sensitivity profiles were also determined.