Patent PET-METASCINT

The invention consists in a gamma-ray detector module to be used primarily in a PET scanner, but not uniquely, based on a scintillator heterostructure (metascintillator) combining the high stopping power of scintillators commonly used in PET scanners (such as L(Y)SO, BGO, etc¿) and very fast scintillators based on polymers loaded with fast emitting dyes or nanocrystals, or thin layers of nanocrystals or multiple quantum well structures. The particular arrangement of this detector module allows combining all the important features of a high-performance Time-of-Flight PET (TOFPET) detector module, i.e. a high photoelectric detection efficiency for the gamma-rays, a precise 3D information (including the depth of interaction DOI) of the gamma-ray conversion in the module, a good energy resolution allowing to select the non-scattered event for the PET image reconstruction and an unprecedented TOF resolution, thanks to the bunch of prompt photons emitted by the photoelectric recoil electron crossing the fast scintillator component of the heterostructure.