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A novel method for calibration and monitoring of time synchronization of TOF-PET scanners by means of cosmic rays

  • Michał Silarski EMAIL logo , Eryk Czerwiński , Tomasz Bednarski , Paweł Moskal , Piotr Białas , Łukasz Kapłon , Andrzej Kochanowski , Grzegorz Korcyl , Jakub Kowal , Paweł Kowalski , Tomasz Kozik , Wojciech Krzemień , Marcin Molenda , Szymon Niedźwiecki , Marek Pałka , Monika Pawlik , Lech Raczyński , Zbigniew Rudy , Piotr Salabura , Neha Gupta Sharma , Artur Słomski , Jerzy Smyrski , Adam Strzelecki , Wojciech Wiślicki , Marcin Zieliński and Natalia Zoń
Published/Copyright: March 3, 2014
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Abstract

All of the present methods for calibration and monitoring of time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF-PET) scanner detectors utilize radioactive isotopes, such as 22Na or 68Ge, which are placed or rotate inside the scanner. In this article, we describe a novel method based on the cosmic rays application to the PET calibration and monitoring methods. The concept allows to overcome many of the drawbacks of the present methods and it is well suited for newly developed TOF-PET scanners with a large longitudinal field of view. The method enables also the monitoring of the quality of the scintillator materials and in general allows for the continuous quality assurance of the PET detector performance.


Corresponding author: Michał Silarski, Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, 30-059 Kraków, Poland, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge technical and administrative support by M. Adamczyk, T. Gucwa-Ryś, A. Heczko, M. Kajetanowicz, G. Konopka-Cupiał, J. Majewski, W. Migdał, and A. Misiak and the financial support by the Polish National Center for Development and Research through grant INNOTECH-K1/IN1/64/159174/NCBR/12, the Foundation for Polish Science through MPD programme and the EU and MSHE Grant No. POIG.02.03.00-161 00-013/09.

Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ conflict of interest disclosure: The authors stated that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Research funding: None declared.

Employment or leadership: None declared.

Honorarium: None declared.

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Received: 2013-10-28
Accepted: 2014-1-7
Published Online: 2014-3-3
Published in Print: 2014-3-31

©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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