Methods and systems for determining timing recovery information in a positron emission tomography (PET) system

1. A method for determining timing recovery information in a Time-of-Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system, said method comprising:

determining energy information from pairs of light sensors of detectors of the TOF PET system, wherein the pairs of light sensors are at opposite sides of scintillator crystals of the detectors;

determining timing information from the pairs of light sensors of the detectors of the TOF PET system; and

calculating timing recovery information using the determined energy and timing information, wherein the energy information, the timing information, and the timing recovery information are devoid of simulation data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the timing recovery information comprises using a ratio of the determined energy information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the timing recovery information comprises calculating a weighted timing using the determined timing information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the timing recovery information comprises calculating an energy weighted timing using:

Σ(Ti*Ei)/Σ(Ei)

where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the timing recovery information comprises calculating a square-root energy sqrt(E) weighted timing using:

Σ(Ti*sqrt(Ei))/(sqrt(Ei))

where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the timing recovery information comprises calculating full width at half maximum (FWHM) timing information using 1/T-FWHM.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a depth of interaction based on a scintillator crystal that detected a photon interaction event.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining depth of interaction information (DOI) for a crystal of the detector from the timing information from the pairs of light sensors of the detectors.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising correcting a time stamp by an amount of a transit time calculated from a DOI point in the crystal.

10. A Time-of-Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system comprising:

a plurality of detector elements configured to acquire scan data, the detector elements having scintillator crystals with pairs of light sensors, wherein the pairs of light sensors are at opposite sides of scintillator crystals, wherein the scan data is devoid of simulation data; and

a processor configured to calculate timing recovery information by determining energy information from the pairs of light sensors of detectors and determining timing information from the pairs of light sensors.

11. The TOF PET system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the timing recovery information using a ratio of the determined energy information.

12. The TOF PET system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the timing recovery information by calculating a weighted timing using the determined timing information.

13. The TOF PET system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the timing recovery information by calculating an energy weighted timing using:

Σ(Ei*Ti)/Σ(Ei)

where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from a plurality of light sensors.

14. The TOF PET system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the timing recovery information by calculating a square-root energy sqrt(E) weighted timing using:

Σ(Ti*sqrt(Ei))/Σ(sqrt(Ei))

where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors.

15. The TOF PET system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the timing recovery information by calculating full width at half maximum (FWHM) timing information using 1/T-FWHM.

16. The TOF PET system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a depth of interaction based on the scintillator crystal that detected a photon interaction event.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium to determine timing recovery information for a Time-of-Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system using a processor, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions to command the processor to:

determine energy information from pairs of light sensors of detectors of a TOF PET system, wherein the pairs of light sensors are at opposite sides of scintillator crystals of the detectors;

determine timing information from the pairs of light sensors of the detectors of the TOF PET system; and

calculate timing recovery information using the determined energy and timing information, wherein the energy information, the timing information, and the timing recovery information are devoid of simulation data.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 including instructions to further command the processor to calculate the timing recovery information using a ratio of the determined energy information and calculate the timing recovery information by calculating a weighted timing using the determined timing information.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions to command the processor to calculate timing recovery information using the determined energy and timing information includes instructions to command the processor to calculate the timing information by calculating one or more of (a) an energy weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*Ei)/Σ(Ei), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, (b) a square-root energy sqrt(E) weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*sqrt(Ei))/(sqrt(Ei)), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, or (c) full width at half maximum (FWHM) timing information using 1/T-FWHM.

20. A method for determining timing recovery information in a Time-of-Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system, said method comprising:

determining energy information from pairs of light sensors of detectors of the TOF PET system;

determining timing information from the pairs of light sensors of the detectors of the TOF PET system; and

calculating timing recovery information using the determined energy and timing information, wherein the calculating timing recovery information comprises calculating one or more of (a) an energy weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*Ei)/Σ(Ei), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, (b) a square-root energy sqrt(E) weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*sqrt(ED)/(sqrt(Ei)), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, or (c) full width at half maximum (FWHM) timing information using 1/T-FWHM.

21. A Time-of-Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system comprising:

a plurality of detector elements configured to acquire scan data, the detector elements having scintillator crystals with pairs of light sensors; and

a processor configured to calculate timing recovery information by determining energy information from the pairs of light sensors of detectors and determining timing information from the pairs of light sensors,

wherein the processor is configured to calculate the timing recovery information by calculating one or more of (a) an energy weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*Ei)/Σ(Ei), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, (b) a square-root energy sqrt(E) weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*sqrt(Ei))/(sqrt(Ei)), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, or (c) full width at half maximum (FWHM) timing information using 1/T-FWHM.

22. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium to determine timing recovery information for a Time-of-Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system using a processor, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions to command the processor to:

determine energy information from pairs of light sensors of detectors of a TOF PET system;

determine timing information from the pairs of light sensors of the detectors of the TOF PET system; and

calculate timing recovery information using the determined energy and timing information, wherein the instructions to command the processor to calculate timing recovery information using the determined energy and timing information include instructions to command the processor to calculate the timing information by calculating one or more of (a) an energy weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*Ei)/Σ(Ei), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, (b) a square-root energy sqrt(E) weighted timing using: Σ(Ti*sqrt(Ei))/(sqrt(Ei)), where Ti is the determined timing information from a plurality of light sensors and Ei is the determined energy information from the plurality of light sensors, or (c) full width at half maximum (FWHM) timing information using 1/T-FWHM.