Experimental demonstration of an optical wireless MRI compatible PET/SPECT insert front-end

We present the design and development of a positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) detector module applying optical wireless communication (OWC) techniques. Our design divides the detector module in two sections. One is the passive, low consumption MRI compatible insert front-end that comprises of a scintillator, a silicon photomultiplier and minimum analog electronics. The analog pulses are transmitted through analog OWC to the second section, the back-end digitalization and reconstruction module. In this work we study how such a setting retains all the necessary features for the detection and characterization of gamma scintillation events. Critical factors compromising this combination have been studied and solutions are proposed. Possible high ratio multiplexing schemes for the necessary transmission with less communication channels are also researched and tested. A series of measurements on different settings demonstrate the viability of this technique. This design can be a cost effective alternative for the industrial production of a flexible and customizable modular PET or SPECT detector insert that can be applied to pre-existing small animal or human MRI settings, only minimally affecting the size of the MRI bore and without compromising the PET signal quality.