Simulation studies of a new 'OpenPET' geometry based on a quad unit of detector rings.

We have proposed an 'OpenPET' geometry which consists of two detector rings of axial length W each axially separated by a gap G. In order to obtain an axially continuous field-of-view (FOV) of 2W+G, the maximum limit for G must be W. However, two valleys of sensitivity appear, one on each side of the gap. In practice, the gap should be G<W in order to compensate for the sensitivity valleys. In this paper, we proposed an alternative method to improve uniformity of the sensitivity while maintaining the gap. The proposed geometry consisted of four units of detector rings obtained by dividing each right and left unit of detector rings into two units. The inner two units formed the main gap, and the outer two units were appropriately placed to improve the uniformity of sensitivity. The geometry was optimized to minimize the standard deviation of the sensitivity distribution. Numerical simulation results supported the effectiveness of the proposed method. The outer units compensated for the sensitivity valleys on both sides of the main gap. A more appropriate geometry should be designed for the desired application, such as a long axial FOV PET and in-beam PET.