The "NATO Advanced Research Workshop on radiation detectors for medical imaging", held in Alushta (Crimea, Ukraine) in September 2005 was a unique event and I am very pleased that the proceedings are published in the prestigious NATO Security Through Science series. Since their discovery by Becquerel and Röntgen, radiation and radiation detectors have played an ever more important role in medical diagnostics and therapy. The spirit of such NATO workshops is to give an overview of the present state of the field, rather than to bring the latest research results. We have been very lucky to have with us several of the worlds leading experts in the use of radiation detectors for medial imaging, resulting in a number of extremely interesting overview talks. The talks of these 14 keynote speakers to the NATO workshop are published in the present volume. The presentations by A. Gektin and W. Moses were combined in one common paper, so that the present book only has 13 chapters. We are sure most of these contributions will prove of lasting value. We are particularly grateful to the "NATO science committee" that has financially supported the meeting. Thanks to the NATO funding we have been able to cover a significant fraction of the expenses for a total of 48 participants to this workshop. Without this support a number of participants from central and east Europe would most probably not have had the possibility to attend.

Good introduction to the use of radiation detectors in medical imaging A must for anyone interested in the use of scintillating materials in medical imaging In-depth discussion of the possibilities for further developments in scintillating materials

Inhalt

Contents. A Look at Medical Imaging Trends through the Eyes of a Medical Doctor. Introduction.-Historical Aspect of Nuclear Medicine.-Nowadays in Nuclear Medicine.-Perspectives of Nuclear Medicine Imaging.- New Trends in X-Ray CT Imaging. Present Status of X-Ray CT.-Detector Instrumentation in Medical CT.-- Scintillator.-Photodetectors.-Future Evolution of Data Measurement Systems.- The Evolution of Spect- from Anger to Today and Beyond.. Introduction.-General Considerations.-SPECT.- The Anger Camera.-Optimizing Positioning in Anger Cameras.- Collimators.-Scintillators for Spect.- Recently Developed Scintillator Materials.- Conclusion.- New Trends in PET Detector Developments. Introduction.-PET Based Molecular Imaging.-Improving Sensitivity.- Improving Spatial and Temporal Resolution.-Multimodaility and Multifunctionality.-New Conversion Materials.- New Photodetectors.-Highly Integrated and Low Noise Electronics.-Intelligent and Triggerable Data Acquisition Systems.-Simulation Software.-New Reconstruction and Visualisation Algorithms.-Conclusion.-Semiconductor Detectors in Radiation Medicine: Radiotherapy and related Applcations. Introduction.-Integral Semiconductor Dosimetry in Radiation Therapy.-Mosfet Detectors.-Semiconductor Radiation Detectors in Hadron Therapy.- Semiconductor Radiation Detectors for Microdosimetry in Radiation Therapy.-Application of Scintillator Based Detector in Radiation Therapy.-Conclusion.-First Results with the ClearPET small Animal PET Scanners. Introduction.-Description of the ClearPET Scanners.-Measured Performance and Comparison with Monte Carlo Simulations.- Image Reconstruction.-Conclusions.-Investigation of Crystal Identification Methods for ClearPET TM Phoswich Detector. Introduction.-Measurement Setup.-Crystal Identification Methods.- Experimental Results.- Conclusions.- Directions in Scintillation Materials Research.Introduction.-Historic Developments.- Fundamental Limits.- Directions in Scintillation Materials Research.-Summary and Conclusions.-Scintillation Detectors for Medical and Biology Applications: Materials, Design and Light Collection Conditions. Introduction.-2. Some Features and Regularities of Light Collection in Scintillators.- Medical Diagnostics Instrumentation.- Thin Scintillation Films for Biological Microtomography. Conclusions.- Current and Future Use of LSO: CE Scintillators in PET. Introduction.-Physical Properties.- Scintillation Properties.-Crystal Growth.-Detector Design.- Future Uses of LSO: CE in PET.-Conclusion.-Inorganic Scintillators in Positron Emission Tomography. Introduction.-Inorganic Scintillators.- Position Resolution and Depth of Interaction.-Coincidence-Time Resolution, Random Coincidences, Time of Flight and Dead Time.-Conclusion.-Crystal Fibers and thin Films for Imaging Applications. Introduction.-Single Crystal Fibers.- Scintillating Thin Films Deposited on Substrate.- Scintillation thin Layers created by Irradiation.-Conclusions. Non-Proportionality and Energy Resolution of Scintillation Detectors.-Introduction.-Outline of the Problem.Study of Energy Resolution and Non-Proportionality.- Discussion and Conclusions.