Advancing Modular Gamma-Ray Cameras: Electronic Board Development for Silicon Photomultiplier Sensors and 4D (X, Y, Z, E) Position Estimation Software

Abstract

The rising number of people that are impacted by neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, has increased the urgent need for disease-delaying or -reversing treatments. Non-invasive methods, such as SPECT and PET, are able to visualize imaging biomarkers that indicate presence of disease and also track the biodistribution of candidate pharmaceuticals to aid in drug discovery. For this purpose, AdaptiSPECT-C is a system that is designed to capture pharmacokinetic data for potential therapeutics for brain disorders. In this work, an electronics design for the silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and position estimation software for the gamma cameras in AdaptiSPECT-C were investigated. The intrinsic spatial resolution of a test module using a single SiPM is estimated using the Cram´er-Rao bound from Fisher Information Matrix (FIM) analysis under an assumption of Poisson statistics, using data from measured mean-detector-response functions (MDRFs). A 2D (X,Y) search algorithm for position estimation using signals from the test module is presented, along with a 4D (X,Y,Z, and E) contracting-grid position-estimation algorithm for use in the complete AdaptiSPECT-C cameras.