Imaging evaluation of CsI(Tl) arrays for scintimammography

We propose the use of Hamamatsu R7600-C8 position sensitive photomultiplier tubes (PSPMTs) as a practical tool for imaging in scintimammography, through the evaluation of performance as a function of scintillation array pixellation in collimated configurations. A number of CsI(Tl) scintillating arrays with different pixel size and thickness are tested. The very high intrinsic spatial resolution of R7600 PSPMTs made it easy to implement a look up table to correct accurately the gain nonuniformity response and position distortion. Finally, an SNR analysis of a small tumor in scintimammography as a function of crystal pixellation is performed by means of a simple breast phantom.