System and method for real-time processing of pet detector hit events

A method of processing a plurality of events, each of the plurality of events corresponding to a detection result of one or more photodetectors configured to detect gamma rays, the one or more photodetectors being mounted on a positron emission tomography (PET) apparatus, the method comprising:

• sorting the plurality of events by time;
• first combining a first event with one or more events subsequent to the first event in the sorted plurality of events to generate a first subseries of events, the one or more events subsequent to the first event being acquired within a first spatial range of a first photodetector associated with the first event and a first temporal range of an acquisition time of the first event;
• second combining a second event with one or more events subsequent to the second event in the sorted plurality of events to generate a second subseries of events, the one or more events subsequent to the second event being acquired within a second spatial range of a second photodetector associated with the second event and a second temporal range of an acquisition time of the second event;
• removing, from the second subseries, one or more events that are included in both the first subseries and the second subseries;
• and
• after performance of the removing step, third combining the second subseries with one or more events in the sorted plurality of events subsequent to a final event in the second subseries to generate a third subseries of events, the one or more events subsequent to the final event being acquired within a third spatial range of a third photodetector associated with the final event and a third temporal range of an acquisition time of the final event.