Next-generation Brain-dedicated PET Systems: From Detector Design to Translational Neuroscience
Salomon Paez-Garcia1, Andres Ricaurte-Fajardo1, Kira Grogg2, Ana Franceschi3, Georges El Fakhri2
1Department of Neuroscience, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, 3Department of Radiology, Lenox Hill Hospital, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Nor
Objective:
To summarize current advances, design principles, and translational applications of brain-dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, emphasizing their engineering innovation and impact on quantitative neuroimaging and precision neurology.
Background:
Brain-only PET systems have emerged to address the limitations of whole-body scanners in high-resolution, quantitative neuroimaging. By optimizing detector geometry, scintillator composition, and computational reconstruction specifically for the brain, these systems deliver superior sensitivity, spatial resolution, and kinetic accuracy. Such improvements enable earlier and more reliable molecular assessment of neurodegenerative, neuroinflammatory, and oncologic disorders.
Design/Methods:
A structured literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science (to September 2025) using (“brain-only PET” OR “dedicated brain PET” OR “head-only PET”) AND (“silicon photomultiplier” [SiPM] OR “time-of-flight” [TOF] OR “depth of interaction” [DOI] OR “NeuroEXPLORER” OR “NeuroLF”). Studies describing detector architecture, reconstruction algorithms, or quantitative performance metrics were included. Extracted variables comprised field of view, detector configuration, spatial resolution, sensitivity, attenuation and motion correction, and comparative performance versus whole-body PET.
Results:
Modern brain-dedicated PET scanners achieve spatial resolutions of 1.5–2.5 mm and sensitivities of 15–30 counts per second per kilobecquerel (cps/kBq)—approximately threefold higher than conventional systems. These gains result from compact gantries, small-pitch lutetium–yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) or lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) crystals, DOI encoding, and SiPMs with ≤ 300 ps TOF performance. Integration of point-spread-function (PSF)-TOF iterative reconstruction, Bayesian regularization, and dynamic kinetic modeling further enhances quantitative accuracy. Prototypes such as NeuroEXPLORER and Positrigo NeuroLF demonstrate ultra-high sensitivity and clinical feasibility.
Conclusions:
Brain-dedicated PET systems represent a paradigm shift in molecular neuroimaging. By uniting advanced detector physics, radiochemistry, and computational modeling, they provide unprecedented molecular detail, enabling quantitative biomarkers for early diagnosis and treatment monitoring across neurologic diseases.
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