The recent introduction of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) is a disruptive innovation that will allow a dramatic improvement of the performance of medical PET scanners and other gamma ray scanners. In order to implement all the advantages of SiPMs in a gamma ray detector, a highly integrated electronics is required. PETsys Electronics has designed and developed an innovative detector module based on the SiPM photodetector, scintillating crystals, and their novel highly integrated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). The proprietary ASIC exploits to an extreme level the time resolution offered by SiPMs. This permits to use effectively Time-of-Flight (TOF) information to obtain very sharp and clean PET images. So far, PETsys Electronics has mainly concentrated on applications in whole body PET scanner and organ specific PET scanners. A high-resolution module with highly pixelated crystals is specifically designed for such applications. Our patented method allows obtaining the required Depth Of Interaction (DOI) information of gamma ray in the scintillator. In addition to nuclear medicine, there are many other areas where gamma rays need to be detected, and require very similar photodetectors and readout electronics to the ones used in PET. Examples are gamma cameras for security application such as scanning of containers, gamma detection in industrial processes and gamma detection for radiation monitoring purposes. The new detector under development will improve spatial resolution and time resolution, therefore reducing the radiation dose and duration required for the scans.
