Analog ASICs for a depth of interaction (DOI) positron emission tomography (PET) detector module

Requirements for a high spatial resolution PET detector module are reviewed. Special features of the proposed module are the use of LSO (or LGSO) crystals and a design that provides some Depth of Interaction (DOI) information. An analog electronics system is designed for the proposed DOI PET detector module. The system includes two ASIC chips: Energy/Timing and winner-select-output (WSO).;A four-channel Energy/Timing ASIC chip is designed and evaluated. The ASIC integrates pre-amplifier, gain-adjustment, base-line-restore, gated-integrator, timing generation, energy-ok check, sample and hold, output buffering and digital control into one chip. Investigation has been done to solve the base-line restore problem, oscillation problem and digital noise coupling problem.;A 16-channel Winner-Select-Output (WSO) ASIC is designed to determine the maximum signal and its partner from 16 analog inputs. The chip also outputs the digital addresses of the selected signals. The ASIC is sensitive to a 10mV difference while maintaining low power and high speed.;Both the Energy/Timing and WSO ASIC were sent to MOSIS for fabrication. Testing results of these two chips are provided in this dissertation. Both ASIC chips work and will be used to build the front-end analog electronics system for a DOI PET detector module. The Energy/Timing chip can also be used in a commercial PET scanner (e.g., the GE Medical Systems' Advance PET scanner).