Scintillation in Liquid Xenon for Gamma-Ray Medical Imaging: From Single Time-over-Threshold to Multi-Time-over-Threshold PMT Signal Measurements

Abstract

In this paper, a new light event acquisition chain in a three-gamma liquid xenon prototype for medical nuclear imaging is presented. The prototype implements the Multi-Time-Over-Threshold (MTOT) method. This method surpasses the Single-Time-Over-Threshold (STOT) by precisely determining both the number of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photons detected by each photomultiplier tube (PMT) and their arrival times for light signal measurement. Based on both the experimental and simulated results, the MTOT method achieved a 70% improvement in reconstructing photoelectrons (PEs) and enhanced the precision of the arrival time estimation by 20–30% compared with STOT. These results will enable an upgrade of the XEMIS2 (Xenon Medical Imaging System) camera, improving its performance as the imaged activity increases.

Keywords

• multi-time-over-threshold
• Compton camera
• scintillation light
• three-gamma imaging
• medical imaging