Hybrid PET / CT imaging detector

A method, comprising:

• detecting gamma radiation with a first layer of a dual layer PET/CT detector in response to imaging in PET mode;
• detecting gamma radiation with a second layer of the dual layer PET/CT detector in response to imaging in PET mode;
• generating PET image data with the gamma radiation detected with the first and second layers;
• detecting X-ray radiation with the first layer of the dual layer PET/CT detector in response to imaging in CT mode;
• energy-binning the gamma radiation detected with the first layer in an energy bin including 511 keV;
• energy-binning the X-ray radiation detected with the first layer in a predetermined set of energy bins over an energy range from 10 keV to 120 keV;
• and
• generating CT image data with the X-ray radiation detected with the first layer;
• and
• visually displaying the PET image data and the CT image data.

An imaging detector array, comprising:

• at least one ring that includes a plurality of detector modules, each detector module including a plurality of detectors, each detector including:
• a first layer having a plurality of first pixels configured to detect gamma radiation and X-ray radiation and generate signals indicative thereof;
• a second layer having a plurality of second pixels configured to detect only gamma radiation and generate a signal indicative thereof,
• wherein the first and second layers are vertically stacked one on top of the other in a direction of incident gamma radiation and X-ray radiation;
• and
• a signal pre-processor configured to process the signals indicative of the gamma radiation detected by the first layer, the X-ray radiation detected by the first layer, and the gamma radiation detected by the second layer,
• wherein the signal pre-processor is configured to bin the gamma radiation detected by the first layer into a predetermined set of PET energy bins based on predetermined set of PET energy thresholds, and bin the X-ray radiation detected by the first layer into a predetermined set of CT energy bins based on predetermined set of CT energy thresholds.