EasyPET: A novel concept for an affordable tomographic system

The easyPET concept described here aims to reduce complexity and cost of preclinical Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners. The system, original in its principle and realisation, is based on a single pair of detectors and a rotating mechanism with two degrees of freedom reproducing the functionalities of an entire PET ring. The characterisation of a 2D imaging prototype, realised to assess the easyPET concept, is presented in this paper. In particular, a spatial resolution of 1±0.1. mm and a sensitivity of 0.1% with an energy threshold of 80. keV have been measured. These encouraging results, compared to the performances of commercial preclinical PET, motivate the feasibility study of a 3D system.