LYSO(Ce) Scintillator Arrays

Cerium doped Lutetium Yttrium Silicate scintillation crystal (LYSO(Ce) scintillator) is an ideal generation scintillator crystal. LYSO scintillator has the advantages of high light output and density, quick decay time, and excellent energy resolution. These properties make LYSO an ideal candidate for various ray detection applications in nuclear physics and medicine, requiring higher, improved timing resolution and superior energy revolution. It is suitable for applications that require high throughput, good timing, and energy resolution, such as time-of-flight Positron Emission Tomography (PET). PET applications have traditionally used arrays of BGO. But LYSO crystal thoroughly beat  BGO on density, energy resolution, and timing.

Hangzhou Shalom EO offers LYSO(Ce) pixelated scintillators and crystal arrays featuring high geometric precision and homogeneous light output, which makes the LYSO scintillation arrays one of the most popular scintillators used for PET usages, including PET for human diagnosis, animal diagnosis, and specific organs like brain, breast. We are capable of offering large LYSO(Ce) pixellated arrays with a pixel size as small as 0.3x0.3mm, which contributes to superior imaging resolution. Furthermore, for PET equipment requiring higher resolutions, single layers of scintillation arrays could be stacked into multilayer scintillation arrays to enhance the resolution. For this purpose, Shalom EO also offers  Multilayer LYSO(Ce) Scintillation Arrays. If you are looking for Bulk LYSO(Ce) Crystals, click on the link to switch to our site's catalog.

Applications:

• Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
• Medical X-ray Computerized Tomography (CT)
• High energy physics
• Nuclear medicine
• Nuclear radiation scanners

This is an example drawing showing the dimensional outline and structure of the LYSO(Ce) scintillator arrays supplied by Hangzhou Shalom EO, whereas other designs and specifications are available for customization.

How does the LYSO(Ce) pixelated array work in PET (Positron Emission Tomography) medical imaging?

The LYSO(Ce) pixelated array is a commonly used component in medical radiation imaging, such as PET (Positron Emission Tomography). By using this product in PET technology, a map of the metabolic activity distribution in a patient's body can be generated. The LYSO(Ce) array consists of many small crystal pixels and optical reflective layers.

1. A tracer is injected into the patient. After the tracer accumulates in a specific tissue (such as a tumor lesion), the nuclide carried by the tracer emits positrons, which, through positron annihilation, produce gamma photons.

2.  When a gamma photon passes through the reflective layer and strikes a crystal "pixel" in the array, the crystal immediately absorbs the energy and subsequently emits a weak, specific wavelength of blue fluorescence.

3. Due to the optical reflective layer surrounding the crystal pixel, the blue fluorescence emitted by each pixel is confined within its own pixel and guided to the light-emitting surface of the array.

4. Optical-electronic sensors (such as photo diodes) are typically mounted on the light-emitting surface of the array during use. They capture the light signals (i.e., the blue fluorescence emitted by the crystal) from each crystal pixel and convert them into electrical signals. Because the array is pixelated, with each pixel being an independent unit, the host computer can immediately determine which specific pixel emitted the fluorescence.

5. Finally, by reading the electrical signals of each pixel, the computer can reconstruct information such as the location, time, and energy at which high-energy particles struck the array, thus forming an image that can be used for medical imaging (such as PET).