EMCCD-based photon-counting mini gamma camera with a spatial resolution &gt; 100 μm

Vree, G.A. de; Have, Frans van der; Beekman, Freek J.

doi:10.1109/nssmic.2004.1466253

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The imaging capabilities of such a device have been previously discussed [1,2,[8][9][10]14] and attempts to improve upon the spatial resolution through fitting to the raw data will be made. Automatic scale selection has been shown to fit the purpose required here with simple discrete Gaussian images.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Imaging and spectroscopy using a scintillator-coupled EMCCD

Hall

Holland²,

Smith

2008

SPIE Proceedings

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The CCD97 is a low light level (L3) device from e2v technologies range of electron multiplying CCDs (EMCCDs). The device uses e2v's patented extended gain register and through the use of appropriately designed electrodes can be used to maximise the signal whilst keeping the impact of the noise to a minimum. The nature of this device makes it ideal for use with a scintillator in order to see individual flashes of light from single X-ray photons. Through the examination of individual X-ray events, it is possible to analyse each interaction in the scintillator to determine the sub-pixel position of the interaction. Using the modelling capabilities of the Geant4 toolkit it is possible to simulate X-ray events and thus examine interactions with known energy and point of interaction. Through bringing together the experimental and simulated results, the spectral capabilities of such a device are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One method of analysis which is often used in the literature [1,2,14] is to 'smooth' the image. This generally involves convoluting the image with a Gaussian kernel.…”

Section: Smoothingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging and spectroscopy using a scintillator-coupled EMCCD

Hall

Holland²,

Smith

2008

SPIE Proceedings

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“…Some of the light produced in the scintillator from the interaction of an incident X-ray photon spreads out radially (to a first approximation) from the point of interaction, despite the columnar structure. Each single X-ray photon therefore produces a spread of light at the detector, spreading over approximately 5 × 5 pixels to 9 × 9 pixels in area, with the peak intensity and the spread dependent on the X-ray energy and the interaction depth in the scintillator (a higher peak intensity and smaller spread would be seen with an X-ray interacting closer to the detector) 8,14,15 .…”

Section: Proof-of-principlementioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a high-resolution x-ray imager using electron-multiplying (EM) CCDs

et al. 2013

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Applications at synchrotron facilities such as macromolecular crystallography and high energy X-ray diffraction require high resolution imaging detectors with high dynamic range and large surface area. Current systems can be split into two main categories: hybrid pixel detectors and scintillator-coupled Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs). Whilst both have limitations, CCD-based systems (coupled to fibre-optics to increase imaging area) are often used in these applications due to their small pixels and the high resolution. Electron-Multiplication CCDs (EM-CCDs) are able to suppress the readout noise associated with increased readout speed offering a low noise, high speed detector solution. A previous pilot study using a small-area (8 mm × 8 mm) scintillator-coupled EM-CCD found that through high frame-rates, low noise and novel uses of photon-counting, resolution could be improved from over 80 µm to 25 µm at 2 fps. To further improve this detector system, high speed readout electronics can be used alongside a fibre-optic taper and EM-CCD to create a "best of both worlds" solution consisting of the high resolution of a CCD, along with the low noise, high speed (high dynamic range) and large effective area of pixel detectors. This paper details the developments in the study and discusses the latest results and their implication on the system design.

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“…To extract clusters, we implement similar techniques as those used in image-intensified (Bazooka SPECT) and EMCCD gamma cameras. 1,6,7,9 First, a background image is subtracted and then the frame is thresholded slightly above the noise variance. Next, each frame is searched for contiguous regions of signal above the threshold, which are then identified as individual events.…”

Section: Photon Countingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, if the detector is operated in photon-counting mode, the gamma-ray interaction position can be estimated using either Anger (centroid) estimation or maximumlikelihood position estimation resulting in a substantial improvement in spatial resolution. 2 Due to the low-light-level nature of the scintillation process, CCD-based gamma cameras implement an amplification stage in the CCD via electron multiplying (EMCCDs) [8][9][10] or via an image intensifier prior to the optical path. 1 We have applied ideas and techniques from previous systems to our high-resolution LumiSPECT detector.…”

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confidence: 99%

Photon-counting gamma camera based on columnar CsI(Tl) optically coupled to a back-illuminated CCD

et al. 2007

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Recent advances have been made in a new class of CCD-based, single-photon-counting gamma-ray detectors which offer sub-100 μm intrinsic resolutions. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] These detectors show great promise in small-animal SPECT and molecular imaging and exist in a variety of configurations. Typically, a columnar CsI(Tl) scintillator or a radiography screen (Gd 2 O 2 S:Tb) is imaged onto the CCD. Gammaray interactions are seen as clusters of signal spread over multiple pixels. When the detector is operated in a charge-integration mode, signal spread across pixels results in spatial-resolution degradation. However, if the detector is operated in photon-counting mode, the gamma-ray interaction position can be estimated using either Anger (centroid) estimation or maximumlikelihood position estimation resulting in a substantial improvement in spatial resolution. 2 Due to the low-light-level nature of the scintillation process, CCD-based gamma cameras implement an amplification stage in the CCD via electron multiplying (EMCCDs) [8][9][10] or via an image intensifier prior to the optical path. 1 We have applied ideas and techniques from previous systems to our high-resolution LumiSPECT detector. 11,12 LumiSPECT is a dual-modality optical/SPECT small-animal imaging system which was originally designed to operate in charge-integration mode. It employs a cryogenically cooled, high-quantum-efficiency, back-illuminated large-format CCD and operates in single-photoncounting mode without any intermediate amplification process. Operating in photon-counting mode, the detector has an intrinsic spatial resolution of 64 μm compared to 134 μm in integrating mode.

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EMCCD-based photon-counting mini gamma camera with a spatial resolution > 100 μm

Cited by 9 publications

References 22 publications

Imaging and spectroscopy using a scintillator-coupled EMCCD

Imaging and spectroscopy using a scintillator-coupled EMCCD

Developing a high-resolution x-ray imager using electron-multiplying (EM) CCDs

Photon-counting gamma camera based on columnar CsI(Tl) optically coupled to a back-illuminated CCD

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