Design of a Mobile and Electromagnetic Emissions-Compliant Brain Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scanner

This paper presents the development of two mobile brain Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners under the PETITION project, designed for Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) applications. The ICU scanner facilitates bedside imaging for critically ill patients, while the PBT scanner enables undisturbed proton beam irradiation during imaging. Key aspects of the hardware design, including modular detectors and electromagnetic interference considerations, are discussed along with preliminary performance evaluations. Operational testing, employing a ²²Na source and a hot-rod phantom, was conducted to determine the timing resolution (548 ps), energy resolution (11.4%) and a qualitative spatial resolution (around 2.2 mm). Our study presents findings on the ICU PET scanner's electromagnetic emissions measured in a controlled EMC testing facility, where all the emissions tests performed comply with the standard EN 60601-1-2 (radiated emissions 15 dB below regulatory limits in the frequency range of 30 MHz to 1 GHz).