Perspectives for Highly-Sensitive PET-Based Medical Imaging Using β⁺γ Coincidences

By employing the triple coincidence between the γ trajectory intersections from β⁺ decaying isotopes emitting a third, prompt, photon ("γ-PET" technique), sub-millimeter spatial resolution can be reached in 3 dimensions for the localization of a point source with a reduced requirement of reconstructed intersections per voxel compared to a conventional PET reconstruction analysis. Results of a Monte-Carlo simulation and image reconstruction study are presented in order to characterize the potential of this technique.