A modular positron camera for the study of industrial processes

Positron imaging techniques rely on the detection of the back-to-back annihilation photons arising from positron decay within the system under study. A standard technique, called positron emitting particle tracking (PEPT) [1], uses a number of these detected events to rapidly determine the position of a positron emitting tracer particle introduced into the system under study. Typical applications of PERT are in the study of granular and multi-phase materials in the disciplines of engineering and the physical sciences. Using components from redundant medical PET scanners a modular positron camera has been developed. This camera consists of a number of small independent detector modules, which can be arranged in custom geometries tailored towards the application in question. The flexibility of the modular camera geometry allows for high photon detection efficiency within specific regions of interest, the ability to study large and bulky systems and the application of PERT to difficult or remote processes as the camera is inherently transportable. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.