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Improving Position Estimation in Double-Sided Strip (DSS) High-Purity Germanium HPGe Detectors for Gamma-ray Imaging

dc.creatorPerea, Rose Schmitt
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-24T11:53:09Z
dc.date.available2020-09-12
dc.date.issued2019-10-17
dc.identifier.urihttps://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/etd-09102019-145735
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1803/15515
dc.description.abstractDouble-sided strip (DSS) high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors are potentially useful for nuclear medicine imaging, particularly in Single Photon Computed Emission Tomography (SPECT), where high energy and high spatial resolution are required for an accurate reconstructed SPECT image. The DSS electrode configuration allows for sub-strip spatial resolution, reducing the number of readout channels required. Reconstructed images in our first prototype small-animal SPECT system exhibited artifacts, which we attributed to mis-positioning of events near the strip edges. To study the detector response and acquire data to facilitate the development of an alternative position estimation method, we scanned a detector with a focused beam (~25x25 $\mu m^{2}$ at 131 keV, Beamline 6-ID-D) at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Maximum-likelihood position estimation was performed at each of nine depths separately using 1-D (independent x and y estimation) and 2-D multivariate Gaussian models. Results show that we can reduce the distortion of mis-placed events at the edge, with a trade-off in spatial resolution. We have also used the Fisher Information Matrix to calculate the Cram\'{e}r-Rao lower bound to probe the expected limiting spatial resolution as a function of interaction location. The variation in our spatial resolution did not reach the Cram\'{e}r-Rao Lower Bound limit; which could be due to the following detector limitations: photo-electron range, the size of the charge cloud, and Compton scatters.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.subjectNuclear Medical Imaging
dc.subjectSingle Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)
dc.subjectGamma-ray Radiation
dc.subjectDetector Physics
dc.subjectMaximum Likelihood Estimation
dc.titleImproving Position Estimation in Double-Sided Strip (DSS) High-Purity Germanium HPGe Detectors for Gamma-ray Imaging
dc.typedissertation
dc.contributor.committeeMemberThomas Yankeelov
dc.contributor.committeeMemberArnold Burger
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKelly Holley-Bockelmann
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.namePHD
thesis.degree.leveldissertation
thesis.degree.disciplinePhysics
thesis.degree.grantorVanderbilt University
local.embargo.terms2020-09-12
local.embargo.lift2020-09-12
dc.contributor.committeeChairTodd E. Peterson
dc.contributor.committeeChairKevian G. Stassun


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