There is currently great interest in functional medical imaging with radionuclides, driven by new clinical applications using positron emission tomography (PET). This project will design and evaluate a revolutionary new photodetection device-a surface-mountable, miniaturized photomultiplier tube (mPMT) for applications in PET. The device, based on micromachining technology, represents a major breakthrough in photosensor design, enabling high spatial and timing resolution in a compact, low-cost package. The mPMT will preserve the low noise characteristics of photomultiplier tubes while significantly shrinking package dimensions to the level of solid-state detectors, such as silicon avalanche photodiodes. A pixel size of 0.4 mm will be well below the requirements for PET. Phase I will fabricate mPMT devices and evaluate detector response characteristics under PET conditions using lutetium-orthosilicate (LSO) scintillators. The mPMT anode rise time, transit time, transit time spread, signal-to-noise ratio, and energy resolution will be determined and compared to avalanche photodiodes and conventional photomultipliers.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The miniaturized photomultiplier tube, exhibiting high speed and large dynamic range, should have application to new time-of-flight positron emission tomography instruments for medical imaging, compact detectors for biomedical lab-on-chip systems, nuclear security, and surveillance operations
