Data acquisition for positron emission tomography

1. A method for estimating the start time of an electronic pulse generated in response to a detected event, the method comprising:

providing a detector that detects an external event and responds to the detected event by generating an electronic analog pulse signal;

selecting a parameterized ideal curve shape to represent analog pulse signals generated by the detector;

receiving an analog pulse signal generated by the detector;

digitizing the received analog pulse signal to produce a digital pulse signal having an amplitude;

normalizing the digital pulse signal amplitude based on a computed area of the digital pulse signal;

using at least one point of the normalized digital pulse signal to specify a curve from the parameterized ideal curve shape to represent the received analog pulse signal;

using the specified curve to estimate the start time of the received analog pulse signal; and

recording a time stamp indicating the estimated start time of the received analog pulse signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameterized ideal curve shape comprises a first exponential portion having a predetermined rise time constant, and a second exponential portion having a predetermined decay time constant.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received analog pulse signal is generated by a silicon photomultiplier.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of using at least one point of the digital pulse signal to specify a curve comprises using only the first point of the digital pulse signal to specify a curve.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of filtering the received analog pulse signal with a low-pass filter.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of using the normalized digital pulse signal to specify a curve from the parameterized ideal curve shape comprises a reverse lookup, wherein one or more lookup tables hold the start time estimate for a set of normalized signal point amplitudes.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detectors comprise a scintillator crystal coupled to one of a photomultiplier tube, an avalanche photodiode and a silicon photomultiplier.

8. A method for estimating the start time for a pulse detected in positron emission tomography comprising:

providing a detector for detecting photons having an energy of about 511 KeV, and generating an analog pulse signal in response;

selecting a parameterized ideal curve shape to represent analog pulse signals generated by the detector;

receiving an analog pulse signal generated by the detector;

digitizing the received analog pulse signal to produce a digital pulse signal having an amplitude;

normalizing the digital pulse signal amplitude based on a computed area of the digital pulse signal;

using at least one point of the normalized digital pulse signal to specify a curve from the parameterized ideal curve shape to represent the received analog pulse signal;

using the specified curve to estimate the start time of the received analog pulse signal; and

recording a time stamp indicating the estimated start time of the received analog pulse signal.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the parameterized ideal curve shape comprises a first exponential portion having a predetermined rise time constant, and a second exponential portion having a predetermined decay time constant.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the received analog pulse signal is generated by a silicon photomultiplier.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of using at least one point of the digital pulse signal to specify a curve comprises using only the first point of the digital pulse signal to specify a curve.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of filtering the received analog pulse signal with a low-pass filter.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of using the normalized digital pulse signal to specify a curve from the parameterized ideal curve shape comprises a reverse lookup, wherein one or more lookup tables hold the start time estimate for a set of normalized signal point amplitudes.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the detectors comprise a scintillator crystal coupled to one of a photomultiplier tube, an avalanche photodiode and a silicon photomultiplier.

15. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of providing front-end electronics comprising an analog to digital converter for digitizing the received analog pulse, and a field programmable gate array that processes the digital pulse signal.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the resolution of the estimated start time of the received analog pulse signal is less than the sample time used for digitizing the received analog signal.

17. A method for identifying coincidence pairs in positron emission tomography comprising:

detecting a plurality of photons and generating an analog pulse signal in response to each detected photon, using a plurality of detectors arranged annularly such that some of the detectors are disposed within a field of view of each other;

selecting a parameterized ideal curve shape to represent analog pulse signals generated by the detector;

digitizing the analog pulse signals to produce digital pulse signals having an amplitude;

normalizing each digital pulse signal's amplitude based on a computed area of the digital pulse signal;

using at least one point of the normalized digital pulse signal to specify a curve from the parameterized ideal curve shape to represent the analog pulse signal;

using the specified curve to estimate the start time of the analog pulse signal for each analog pulse signal;

recording a time stamp indicating the estimated start time of the analog pulse signals; and

comparing time stamps of analog pulse signals from detectors disposed within the field of view of each other to identify coincidence pairs.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the parameterized ideal curve shape comprises a first exponential portion having a predetermined rise time constant, and a second exponential portion having a predetermined decay time constant.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of using at least one point of the digital pulse signal to specify a curve comprises using only the first point of the digital pulse signal to specify a curve.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising the step of filtering the received analog pulse signal with a low-pass filter.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of using the normalized digital pulse signal to specify a curve from the parameterized ideal curve shape comprises a reverse lookup, wherein one or more lookup tables hold the start time estimate for a set of normalized signal point amplitudes.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein the detectors comprise a scintillator crystal coupled to one of a photomultiplier tube, an avalanche photodiode and a silicon photomultiplier.

23. The method of claim 17 , further comprising the step of providing front-end electronics comprising an analog to digital converter for digitizing the received analog pulse, and a field programmable gate array that processes the digital pulse signal.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the resolution of the estimated start time of the received analog pulse signal is less than the sample time used for digitizing the received analog signal.

25. A positron emission tomography scanner comprising:

a plurality of detectors arranged in an annular array, each detector comprising at least one scintillator and at least one photomultiplier;

a front-end electronics system comprising an analog to digital converter that is operable to receive analog signals from the detector photomultipliers, the front-end electronics systems including analog to digital converters that convert the received analog signals into digital signals and field programmable gate arrays that receive the digital signals and calculate the start times of the analog signals;

wherein the field programmable gate arrays calculate the start times of the analog signals by: i) normalizing each digital pulse signal's amplitude based on a computed area of the digital pulse signal; ii) using at least one point of the normalized digital pulse signal to specify a curve from a parameterized ideal curve shape to represent the analog pulse signal; iii) using the specified curve to estimate the start time of the analog pulse signal for each analog pulse signal.

26. The positron emission tomography scanner of claim 25 , wherein each of the at least one photomultiplier comprises one of a photomultiplier tube, a silicon photomultiplier and an avalanche photo diode.

27. The positron emission tomography scanner of claim 25 , further comprising a filter that filters the analog signal before it is digitized.