Medical imaging system with depth-of-interaction and compton scatter resolving capacities and related method

A method for reading and processing electric signals in a medical imaging apparatus for gamma-ray detection, the medical imaging apparatus including a detector and circuitry, the detector including a plurality of detector modules, each detector module including a crystal array and a photosensor array coupled to the crystal array, the crystal array including a plurality of scintillation crystals that generate scintillation light in response to gamma-ray interactions occurring therein, the photosensor array including a plurality of photosensors that generate electrical signals upon detecting the scintillation light emitted from the crystal array, each detector module being divided into N light-sharing segments, each of the N light-sharing segments covering M photosensors of the photosensor array, where N and M are integers, N≥2, and M≥2,

• the circuitry including (1) a plurality of sets of M first-level electronic units and (2) a second-level electronic unit, each set of M electronic units being configured to read the electrical signals generated by the photosensor array of a corresponding one of the plurality of detector modules,
• the method comprising, for each detector module of the plurality of detector modules:
• reading via each first-level electronic unit of a corresponding set of M first-level electronic units, the electrical signals generated by N photosensors in a multiplexing manner to generate timing, energy, and position readout signals on a single set of readout channels;
• and
• processing via the second-level electronic unit, the timing, energy, and position readout signals output from M sets of readout channels of the set of M first-level electronic units, wherein
• with respect to each first-level electronic unit of the set of M first-level electronic units, each of the N photosensors read by the first-level electronic unit is situated in a corresponding different one of the N light-sharing segments, and
• with respect to each light-sharing segment of the N light-sharing segments, each of the M photosensors covered by the light-sharing segment is read by a corresponding different first-level electronic unit of the set of M first-level electronic units.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for reading and processing electric signals in a medical imaging apparatus for gamma-ray detection, the medical imaging apparatus including a detector and circuitry, the detector including a plurality of detector modules, each detector module including a crystal array and a photosensor array coupled to the crystal array, the crystal array including a plurality of scintillation crystals that generate scintillation light in response to gamma-ray interactions occurring therein, the photosensor array including a plurality of photosensors that generate electrical signals upon detecting the scintillation light emitted from the crystal array, each detector module being divided into N light-sharing segments, each of the N light-sharing segments covering M photosensors of the photosensor array, where N and M are integers, N≥2, and M≥2,

• the circuitry including (1) a plurality of sets of M first-level electronic units and (2) a second-level electronic unit, each set of M first-level electronic units being configured to read the electrical signals generated by the photosensor array of a corresponding one of the plurality of detector modules,
• the method comprising, for each detector module of the plurality of detector modules:
• reading via each first-level electronic unit of a corresponding set of M first-level electronic units, the electrical signals generated by N photosensors in a multiplexing manner to generate timing, energy, and position readout signals on a single set of readout channels;
• and
• processing via the second-level electronic unit, the timing, energy, and position readout signals output from M sets of readout channels of the set of M first-level electronic units, wherein
• with respect to each first-level electronic unit of the set of M first-level electronic units, each of the N photosensors read by the first-level electronic unit is situated in a corresponding different one of the N light-sharing segments, and
• with respect to each light-sharing segment of the N light-sharing segments, each of the M photosensors covered by the light-sharing segment is read by a corresponding different first-level electronic unit of the set of M first-level electronic units.