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Abstract
| Time resolution plays a key role in positron emission tomography (PET) by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio and ultimately improving the quality of the image. In previous studies, an array of 16 LYSO crystals (measuring 3.1x3.1x15 mm$^3$) coupled to Hamamatsu S13361-3050AE-04 SiPMs and readout by a custom-made NINO board achieved a coincidence time resolution (CTR) below 160 ps. However, the spatial resolution of the array was affected by parallax error due to the unknown depth of interaction (DOI) of the incident gamma-ray photon. The DOI information was successfully extracted with 3 mm resolution using a light-sharing mechanism and the NINO board. Nevertheless, the board is not commercially available and cannot be scaled to a full PET detector. To address this limitation, this study examines the commercially available TOFPET2 ASIC (application specific integrated circuits) from PETsys Electronics S.A. using light-sharing DOI-capable modules and compares it to the custom-made NINO board. The SiPM array coupled to the matrix of 16 LYSO crystals using TOFPET2 PETsys demonstrates a DOI resolution of 3.6 ± 0.3 mm and a CTR value of 224 ± 3 ps. This approach is scalable to a full PET detector. Finally, potential paths to further improve DOI resolution and CTR are discussed. |