Active-PET: a multifunctional PET scanner with dynamic gantry size featuring high-resolution and high-sensitivity imaging: a Monte Carlo simulation study

Organ-specific PET scanners have been developed to provide both high spatial resolution and sensitivity, although the deployment of several dedicated PET scanners at the same center is costly and space-consuming. Active-PET is a multifunctional PET scanner design exploiting the advantages of two different types of detector modules and mechanical arms mechanisms enabling repositioning of the detectors to allow the implementation of different geometries/configurations. Active-PET can be used for different applications, including brain, axilla, breast, prostate, whole-body, preclinical and pediatrics imaging, cell tracking, and image guidance for therapy. Monte Carlo techniques were used to simulate a PET scanner with two sets of high resolution and high sensitivity pixelated Lutetium Oxyorthoscilicate (LSO(Ce)) detector blocks (24 for each group, overall 48 detector modules for each ring), one with large pixel size (4 × 4 mm²) and crystal thickness (20 mm), and another one with small pixel size (2 × 2 mm²) and thickness (10 mm). Each row of detector modules is connected to a linear motor that can displace the detectors forward and backward along the radial axis to achieve variable gantry diameter in order to image the target subject at the optimal/desired resolution and/or sensitivity. At the center of the field-of-view, the highest sensitivity (15.98 kcps MBq⁻¹) was achieved by the scanner with a small gantry and high-sensitivity detectors while the best spatial resolution was obtained by the scanner with a small gantry and high-resolution detectors (2.2 mm, 2.3 mm, 2.5 mm FWHM for tangential, radial, and axial, respectively). The configuration with large-bore (combination of high-resolution and high-sensitivity detectors) achieved better performance and provided higher image quality compared to the Biograph mCT as reflected by the 3D Hoffman brain phantom simulation study. We introduced the concept of a non-static PET scanner capable of switching between large and small field-of-view as well as high-resolution and high-sensitivity imaging.