Nuclear medicine imaging modalities such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) are powerful, non-invasive medical imaging techniques that provide an image of the three dimensional distribution of a radionuclide in any slice through an organ under study in the body. These images allow investigation of metabolism in the region being studied and are a useful tool for understanding the functioning of the organs, as well as diagnosis symptoms of diseases such as cancer, myocardial ischemia, Alzheimer's disease, head trauma, and stroke. At present, the performance of SPECT and PET systems is often limited by the scintillation detectors used in these systems. The goal of the proposed effort is to investigate a new promising scintillator for nuclear medicine applications such as PET and SPECT imaging.
