LSO based dual slice helical CT and PET demonstrators

Two demonstrators, a spiralCT and a miniPET, have been designed and constructed for educational purposes. Computed tomographs (CTs) and positron emission tomographs (PETs) are some of the most commonly used structural and functional imaging devices in medicine, respectively. There is a need for transparent demonstrators where the principles of the different modalities and their functions are presented. The aim of the developments of these systems was to present the major building blocks of CT and PET for undergraduate students. Photon detection in both systems is based on small pixelised scintillation crystals with position sensitive PMT readout. Similar analogue and digital data processing based on FPGA technique is applied for the demonstrators and common image reconstruction and presentation software components are used.