A Depth-of-Interaction encoding method for SPECT monolithic scintillation detectors

The Depth of Interaction (DoI) discrimination of gamma-photons within scintillation crystals allows to improve imaging performance in PET scanners as well as in SPECT devices equipped with non-parallel collimators (e. g. pinhole ones). In previous works, the authors experimentally proved the efficiency of a DoI-encoding technique in case of a 20 mm-thick monolithic crystal PET module. For the thinner crystals commonly used in SPECT, DoI determination still remains a challenging goal. To this aim, in this work the authors have experimentally evaluated the DoI-encoding method on a 6 mm-thick monolithic LaBr3: Ce crystal. The results prove the efficiency and reliability of the proposed method. It indeed allows to discriminate the gamma photons interacting at the the top and the bottom of the crystal.