A region segmentation based algorithm for building a crystal position lookup table in a scintillation detector

Abstract：

In a scintillation detector, scintillation crystals are typically made into a 2-dimensional modular array. The location of incident gamma-ray needs be calibrated due to spatial response nonlinearity. Generally, position histograms——the characteristic flood response of scintillation detectors-are used for position calibration. In this paper, a position calibration method based on a crystal position lookup table which maps the inaccurate location calculated by Anger logic to the exact hitting crystal position has been proposed. Firstly, the position histogram is preprocessed, such as noise reduction and image enhancement. Then the processed position histogram is segmented into disconnected regions, and crystal marking points are labeled by finding the centroids of regions. Finally, crystal boundaries are determined and the crystal position lookup table is generated. The scheme is evaluated by the whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanner and breast dedicated single photon emission computed tomography scanner developed by the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results demonstrate that the algorithm is accurate, efficient, robust and applicable to any configurations of scintillation detector.