PET CAMERA USING BAF2 AND PHOTOSENSITIVE MULTIWIRE PROPORTIONAL CHAMBER

Abstract

Barium Fluoride scintillator coupled to a low pressure multiwire proportional chamber (MWPC) has previously been investigated and found applications in High Energy Physics. At present a BaF2/ NWPC detector is being developed for use in a PET medical imaging system. We present technical results obtained with a prototype detector. It is shown that the impact point of the gamma ray can be determined with a precision of a few mm and that the detection efficiency is 60% with a time resolution of 10nm (FWHM). A scanner based on the new principle is described and its anticipated performance discussed.