Development of head module for multi-head Si/CdTe Compton camera for medical applications

Abstract: We are constructing a three-dimensional imaging system for medical and biological applications. The system will allow simultaneous imaging at high spatial and energy resolutions across a wide energy range, from several tens of keV to a few MeV. The system relies on a Si/CdTe semiconductor Compton camera, incorporating state-of-the-art space-observation technology developed by ISAS/JAXA. The Si/CdTe Compton camera was developed for use at moderate temperatures. Moreover, the solid, thin scattering layer allows the target to be placed close to the camera, a good angular resolution corresponds directly to a good spatial resolution. These aspects allow the construction of a compact medical system. In this work, we have developed a prototype head module for a multi-head system. The performance of the prototype was evaluated with a sealed Ba-133 radiation source. The experiments confirmed that the imaging results were consistent with source positioning. The experimental results were also compared with those of a Monte Carlo simulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]