@article{ZiemonsHeinrichsStreunetal.2004, author = {Ziemons, Karl and Heinrichs, U. and Streun, M. and Pietrzyk, U.}, title = {Validation of GEANT3 simulation studies with a dual-head PMT ClearPET™ prototype}, series = {2003 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 5}, journal = {2003 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 5}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {3053 -- 3056}, year = {2004}, abstract = {The ClearPET™ project is proposed by working groups of the Crystal Clear Collaboration (CCC) to develop a 2nd generation high performance small animal positron emission tomograph (PET). High sensitivity and high spatial resolution is foreseen for the ClearPET™ camera by using a phoswich arrangement combining mixed lutetium yttrium aluminum perovskite (LuYAP:Ce) and lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) scintillating crystals. Design optimizations for the first photomultiplier tube (PMT) based ClearPET camera are done with a Monte-Carlo simulation package implemented on GEANT3 (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland). A dual-head prototype has been built to test the frontend electronics and was used to validate the implementation of the GEANT3 simulation tool. Multiple simulations were performed following the experimental protocols to measure the intrinsic resolution and the sensitivity profile in axial and radial direction. Including a mean energy resolution of about 27.0\% the simulated intrinsic resolution is about (1.41±0.11)mm compared to the measured of (1.48±0.06)mm. The simulated sensitivity profiles show a mean square deviation of 12.6\% in axial direction and 3.6\% in radial direction. Satisfactorily these results are representative for all designs and confirm the scanner geometry.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunChavanLameetal.2006, author = {Streun, M. and Chavan, U. and Lame, H. and Parl, C. and M{\"u}ller-Veggian, Mattea and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Treating the Gain Non-Uniformity of Multi Channel PMTs by Channel-Specific Trigger Levels}, series = {2006 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2.}, journal = {2006 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2.}, address = {San Diego, CA}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {1301 -- 1304}, year = {2006}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgKhodaverdietal.2006, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Khodaverdi, M. and Larue, H. and Parl, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Timemark correction for the ClearPET™ scanners}, series = {2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 4}, journal = {2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 4}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {2057 -- 2060}, year = {2006}, abstract = {The small animal PET scanners developed by the Crystal Clear Collaboration (ClearPETtrade) detect coincidences by analyzing timemarks which are attached to each event. The scanners are able to save complete single list mode data which allows analysis and modification of the timemarks after data acquisition. The timemarks are obtained from the digitally sampled detector pulses by calculating the baseline crossing of the rising edge of the pulse which is approximated as a straight line. But the limited sampling frequency causes a systematic error in the determination of the timemark. This error depends on the phase of the sampling clock at the time of the event. A statistical method that corrects these errors will be presented}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2006, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Parl, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {The data acquisition system of ClearPET neuro - a small animal PET scanner}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {53}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {3}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {700 -- 703}, year = {2006}, abstract = {The Crystal Clear Collaboration has developed a modular system for a small animal PET scanner (ClearPET). The modularity allows the assembly of scanners of different sizes and characteristics in order to satisfy the specific needs of the individual member institutions. The system performs depth of interaction detection by using a phoswich arrangement combining LSO and LuYAP scintillators which are coupled to Multichannel Photomultipliers (PMTs). For each PMT a free running 40 MHz ADC digitizes the signal and the complete scintillation pulse is sampled by an FPGA and sent with 20 MB/s to a PC for preprocessing. The pulse provides information about the gamma energy and the scintillator material which identifies the interaction layer. Furthermore, the exact pulse starting time is obtained from the sampled data. This is important as no hardware coincidence detection is implemented. All single events are recorded and coincidences are identified by software. The system in J{\"u}lich (ClearPET Neuro) is equipped with 10240 crystals on 80 PMTs. The paper will present an overview of the data acquisition system.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgBroekeletal.2004, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Br{\"o}kel, M. and Fuss, L. and Larue, H. and Parl, C. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {The ClearPET data acquisition}, series = {2003 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 5}, journal = {2003 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 5}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {3097 -- 3100}, year = {2004}, abstract = {Within the Crystal Clear Collaboration a modular system for a small animal PET scanner (ClearPET™) has been developed. The modularity allows the assembly of scanners of different sizes and characteristics in order to fit the specific needs of the individual member institutions. Now a first demonstrator is being completed in Julich. The system performs depth of interaction detection by using a phoswich arrangement combining LSO and LuYAP scintillators which are coupled to multi-channel photomultipliers (PMTs). A free-running ADC digitizes the signal from the PMT and the complete scintillation pulses are sampled by an FPGA and sent with 20 MB/S to a PC for preprocessing. The pulse provides information about the gamma energy and the scintillator material which identifies the interaction layer. Furthermore, the exact pulse starting time is obtained from the sampled data. This is important as no hardware coincidence detection is implemented. All single events are recorded and coincidences are identified by software. An advantage of that is that the coincidence window and the dimensions of the field of view can be adjusted easily. The ClearPET™ demonstrator is equipped with 10240 crystals on 80 PMTs. This paper presents an overview of the data acquisition system.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{StreunAlKaddoumParletal.2012, author = {Streun, M. and Al-Kaddoum, R. and Parl, C. and Pietrzyk, U. and Ziemons, Karl and Waasen, S. van}, title = {Simulation studies of optical photons in monolithic block scintillators}, series = {2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, booktitle = {2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {New York}, isbn = {978-1-4673-0120-6 (electronic ISBN)}, doi = {10.1109/NSSMIC.2011.6154621}, pages = {1380 -- 1382}, year = {2012}, abstract = {The interest in PET detectors with monolithic block scintillators is growing. In order to obtain high spatial resolutions dedicated positioning algorithms are required. But even an ideal algorithm can only deliver information which is provided by the detector. In this simulation study we investigated the light distribution on one surface of cuboid LSO scintillators of different size. Scintillators with a large aspect ratio (small footprint and large height) showed significant position information only for a minimum interaction depth of the gamma particle. The results allow a quantitative estimate for a useful aspect ratio.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2003, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Saleh, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Pulse shape discrimination of LSO and LuYAP scintillators for depth of interaction detection in PET}, series = {2002 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, journal = {2002 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {1636 -- 1639}, year = {2003}, abstract = {A feasible way to gain the depth of interaction information in a PET scanner is the use of phoswich detectors. In general the layer of interaction is identified front the pulse shape of the corresponding scintillator material. In this work pulses from LSO and LuYAP crystals were investigated in order to find a practical method of distinguishing. It turned out that such a pulse processing could he kept simple due to an additional slow component in the light decay of the LuYAP pulse. At the same time the short decay time guarantees that the major amount of the light output is still collected within a short pulse recording time.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2003, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Saleh, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Pulse shape discrimination of LSO and LuYAP scintillators for depth of interaction detection in PET}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {50}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {3}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {344 -- 347}, year = {2003}, abstract = {A feasible way to gain the depth of interaction information in a positron emission tomography scanner is the use of phoswich detectors. In general, the layer of interaction is identified from the pulse shape of the corresponding scintillator material. In this work, pulses from LSO and LuYAP crystals were investigated in order to find a practical method of distinguishing. It turned out that such a pulse processing could be kept simple because of an additional slow component in the light decay of the LuYAP pulse. At the same time, the short decay time guarantees that the major amount of the light output is still collected within a short pulse recording time.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2000, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Pulse recording by free-running sampling}, series = {2000 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2}, journal = {2000 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {9/179 -- 9/181}, year = {2000}, abstract = {Pulses from a position-sensitive photomultiplier (PS-PMT) are recorded by free running ADCs at a sampling rate of 40 MHz. A four-channel acquisition-board has been developed which is equipped with four 12 bit-ADCs connected to one FPGA (field programmable gate array). The FPGA manages data acquisition and the transfer to the host computer. It can also work as a digital trigger, so a separate hardware-trigger can be omitted. The method of free running sampling provides a maximum of information, besides the pulse charge and amplitude also pulse shape and starting time are contained in the sampled data. These informations are crucial for many tasks such as distinguishing between different scintillator materials, determination of radiation type, pile-up recovery, coincidence detection or time-of-flight applications. The absence of an analog integrator allows coping with very high count rates. Since this method is going to be employed in positron emission tomography (PET), the position of an event is another important information. The simultaneous readout of four channels allows localization by means of center-of-gravity weighting. First results from a test setup with LSO-scintillators coupled to the PS-PMT are presented}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2001, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Pulse recording by free-running sampling}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {48}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {3}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {524 -- 526}, year = {2001}, abstract = {Pulses from a position-sensitive photomultiplier (PS-PMT) are recorded by free-running ADCs at a sampling rate of 40 MHz. A four-channel acquisition board has been developed which is equipped with four 12-bit ADCs connected to one field programmable gate array (FPGA). The FPGA manages data acquisition and the transfer to the host computer. It can also work as a digital trigger, so a separate hardware trigger can be omitted. The method of free-running sampling provides a maximum of information, besides the pulse charge and amplitude also pulse shape and starting time are contained in the sampled data. This information is crucial for many tasks such as distinguishing between different scintillator materials, determination of radiation type, pile-up recovery, coincidence detection or time-of-flight applications. The absence of an analog integrator allows very high count rates to be dealt with. Since this method is to be employed in positron emission tomography (PET), the position of an event is also important. The simultaneous readout of four channels allows localization by means of center-of-gravity weighting. First results from a test setup with LSO scintillators coupled to the PS-PMT are presented here}, language = {en} }