Timing calibration for time-of-flight (TOF) PET using positron-emitting isotopes and annihilation targets

Abstract

A method and system for calibrating an imaging system in which a positron-emitting radioisotope source is arranged in or adjacent to an imaging region of the imaging system, an annihilation target is arranged at a position separated from the positron-emitting radioisotope source by a predetermined distance, coincident event pairs resulting from annihilation of positrons at the annihilation target are detected, a calibration time offset for a detector element in the imaging system is calculated based on the detected coincident event pairs, and the detector element is calibrated with the completed calibration time offset.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.