8th International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors Pisa 2-6 July 2006 LaBr 3 :Ce scintillation gamma camera prototype for X and gamma ray imaging Roberto Pani On behalf of SCINTIRAD Collaboration INFN University La Sapienza Rome Italy
In 2004, INFN promoted the development of a scintillation camera based on LaBr3:Ce continuous crystal shape. LaBr3:Ce crystals are now available with continuous shape covering up to 10 10 cm2 with a thickness of 1 cm or more. (the high hygroscopicity and fragility of material have introduced serious concerns in pixellated manufacturing). AIM of the work Verify if LaBr3:Ce meets the requirements for SPECT imaging and has the potential to replace NaI:Tl as the material of choice for SPECT. Explore the potential of LaBr3:Ce as integrated detector, with sufficient spatial resolution, for SPET/CT co-registration imaging (scintimammography)
Crystal scintillation properties Crystals Density (g cm -3 ) Light yield (ph/kev) Decay time (ns) Maximum Emission (nm) E/E (FWHM) (%) PMT read-out 662 kev ** 140 kev NaI:Tl 3.67 41 230 410 5.6 8.5 CsI:Na CsI:Tl LaCl 3 :Ce 4.51 4.51 3.79 40 66 49 630 800 6 x10 3 28 420 550 350 7.4 6.6 (PMT)/ 4.3 (SDD) 3.8 9.5 14 8.0 * LaBr 3 :Ce 5.0 63 16 380 2.8 Bi 4 Ge 3 O 12 (BGO) 7.1 9 300 480 9.0 Lu 2 SiO 5 :Ce (LSO) 7.4 26 40 420 7.9 Gd 2 SiO 5 :Ce (GSO) 6.7 8 60 440 7.8 YAl O 3 :Ce (YAP) 5.5 21 30 350 4.3 APD ** from C.W.E. van Ejjk Phys. Med. Biol. (2002) 85-106 * Expected values 5.8 18 22 20
Radiation absorbtion properties at 140 kev Crystals ρ density (g cm -3 ) τ (cm -1 ) µ (cm -1 ) τ / µ HVL (cm) Thick.* 80% eff. (cm) LaBr 3 :Ce 5.0 2.2 3.01 0.73 0.23 0.53 LaCl 3 :Ce 3.79 1.78 2.37 0.75 0.29 0.68 NaI:Tl 3.67 2.07 2.66 0.78 0.26 0.60 CsI:Tl 4.51 3.17 3.92 0.81 0.17 0.41
Non-proportionality in light yield Relative Light Yield 1.3 1.25 1.2 1.15 1.1 1.05 1 0.95 0.9 0.85 0.8 Energy (kev) W.Moses, NIM A, 487 (2002) NaI(Tl) A LaBr 3 (Ce) B 1 10 100 1000 A Prescott and Narayan, Nucl. Instr. And Meth., Vol 75,51 (1969) B G.Bizarri, W.E.Van Eijk et al., IEEE TNS, Vol 53,02 (2006)
LaBr 3 :Ce Afterglow Exp. time: 30 s Source : X-ray beam (Bizarri G. et al. IEEE TNS, Vo. 35, 2006) Exp. time: 300 s Source : 241 Am (Nassalski A. et al. IEEE NSS_MIC Conf. Rec., 2005)
Energy Resolution Energy resolution FWHM 100% 10% 1% LaBr:Ce 4mm thick / PMT LaBr:Ce 0.5 inch Ø 0.5 thick /PMT / PMT A LaBr:Ce 0.5 inch Ø 0.5 thick /APD / APD B NaI(Tl) Dorenbos TNS 2004 Theoretical=2.35/sqrt(Nphe) 10 Energy (kev) 100 1000 A PMT Hamamatsu R3261 B Si-APD Hamamatsu S8664 - Active Area 10 x 10 mm 2
LaBr 3 :Ce X and γ imager Hamamatsu H8500 Flat Panel PMT Photodetector assembly for 10x10 cm 2 LaBr 3 :Ce crystal LaBr3:Ce planar scintillation crystal 10 mm thick + 3 mm window coupled to Flat Panel PSPMT external size 52 x 52 mm 2 49 49 mm 2 active area 1.5 mm glass window metal channel dynodes 8 8 matrix 6.0 mm anodes LaBr3:Ce planar scintillation crystal 5 mm thick integral assembled with Flat Panel PSPMT Extremely compact (15 mm of thickness) Ideal for closely packing in array (1.5 mm edge dead zone) Intrinsic spatial resolution better than 0.5 mm
Flat Panel Electronic Readout: Multi-anode 64 channels Southampton Read64 Control Logic photocatode PSPMT H8500 Flat Panel Last Dynode Anode 1 Anode 2 Anode 16 Anode 48 Anode 64 RAL HX2 Integrating Amplifier (16 ch) RAL HX2 Integrating Amplifier (16 ch) RAL HX2 Integrating Amplifier (16 ch) RAL HX2 Integrating Amplifier (16 ch) Multiplexer NI DAQ 6110E DAQ Board (A/D) Event Trigger PC Comparator
Position Arithmetic for continuous scintillator in single photon counting Scintillation light flash on photocathode X & Y Position Centroid Algorithm Position: Energy: X = Σ i i n i Σ i n i Ε = Σ i n i Charge distribution sampling by anode array k 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Anode array (Hamamatsu H8500) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 i n = i n i k k k n i
Expected Spatial Resolution σ X c = 1 n phe 2 ( i < i ) f i > i Projected charge ( X-axis) n i f = n i i n phe SR = ER σ charge_distrib i 1 2 3 4 5 2.5 Anodes 6 7 8 2 Spatial Resolution (mm 1.5 1 0.5 0 LaBr 3 (Ce) 10 mm LaBr 3 (Ce) 5 mm LaBr 3 (Ce) 1,5 mm 0 10 20 30 40 50 Position (mm)
Charge distribution treatment for position linearity correction Original charge distribution from single γ interaction LaBr 3 :Ce 10 mm thick Squared charge Threshold level
Position linearity correction LaBr 3 :Ce integral assembly Co57 Spot scanning, 1.5 mm step Measured Position (m Measured Position (mm) 50 40 30 20 10 raw data charge threshold = 1 y=x Corrected Raw The correct position linearity relation enables to carry out the true intrinsic spatial resolution 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 Mechanical Position (mm) Counts 2200 1650 1100 550 0 Raw data 90 120 150 180 210 Image Pixel Counts (a.u 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 Threshold & squared charge 0 90 120 150 180 210 image pixel
LaBr 3 :Ce Position Linearity Enhancement continuous crystals 10 mm thick + 3 mm window 3 inch PSPMT Hamamatsu R2486 Sanchez F. et al., Design and tests of a portable mini gamma camera, Med.Phys., Vol.31, June 2004
LaBr 3 :Ce Energy and Spatial Resolution Enhancement continuous crystals 3 inch PSPMT Hamamatsu R2486 Sanchez F. et al., Medical Physics, Vol.31, June 2004
Intrinsic Spatial Resolution vs Energy 10.0 LaBr 3 (Ce) 10 mm Anger Camera 10 mm Intrinsic SR (mm) 1.0 LaBr 3 (Ce) 5 mm LaBr 3 (Ce) 1.5 mm 1 broken line E 0.5 mm @ 511keV 0.1 10 100 1000 Energy (kev)
Intrinsic Spatial Resolution vs γ energy LaBr 3 :Ce 5 mm thickness- 1mm collimated Ba 133 source 5mm 5mm Overall SR = 1.51 mm 80 kev Overall SR = 1.24 mm 302 kev 800 ISR min =0,83mm ISR avg =1,14mm ISR min =0,48mm 120 100 ISR avg =0,73mm 600 80 counts 400 200 counts 60 40 20 0 70 110 150 190 230 image pixels 0 70 120 170 220 image pixels
Spatial resolution vs crystal thickness Co 57 1 mm collimated source - Detector Scanning @ 1.5 mm step LaBr3:Ce 5 mm thick LaBr3:Ce 10 mm thick Integral assembly 3 mm window Intrinsic SR = 1.00 mm mean value Intrinsic SR = 2.05 mm mean value 2200 0.90 mm best value 1600 1.85 mm best value 1650 1200 Counts 1100 Counts 800 550 400 0 70 90 110 130 150 170 190 Image Pixel 0 70 90 110 130 150 170 190 Image Pixel
Absorption efficiency of BrilLianCe TM 380 (LaBr 3 :Ce) 140 kev 80 kev 511 kev Courtesy of Saint Gobain Crystals
Mario transmission Pb mask Co57 flood field irradiation (S. Majewsky, Jlab, Va, USA) 1.2mm 4.6mm LaBr 3 :Ce 5 mm thickness -Integral assembly Spatial Resolution = 0.90 mm Efficiency: 80% LaBr 3 :Ce 1.5 mm thickness -Integral assembly Spatial Resolution = 0.65 mm Efficiency: 35%
Conclusion This work confirms the expected high potential of the LaBr3:Ce gamma camera for single photon Imaging. Continuous LaBr3:Ce crystal shows superior spatial and energy resolution performances than previous generation scintillators It shows interesting features as integrated detector for SPET/CT imaging though the wide charge distribution detection in pulse mode is the major limitation for high count rate X-ray imaging