PETALO read-out: A novel approach for data acquisition systems in PET applications

PETALO (a Positron Emission Tof Apparatus based on Liquid xenOn) is a new approach for Positron Emission Tomography scanners, based on liquid xenon. The PETALO detector aims at capturing the light produced by the scintillation in LXe taking advantage of its uniform response and continuity. This strategy will lead to a geometrical distortion free behavior compared to other PET detectors. To this end, the sensors chosen for the light readout are SiPMs, which provide large area, high gain and very low noise. In order to take advantage of the unique PETALO detector characteristics a read-out architecture must be designed to meet the following specifications: Electronics associated to detector (front-end and read-out itself) must be fully expandable in terms of detector size. Read-out scheme must be compatible with the non-segmented structure of the detector. Time of Flight (TOF) capabilities must be assured at the scanner level, that is to say front-end and read-out electronics should not degrade LXe time performance. In these proceedings, a new readout concept is introduced which is compatible with a fully continuous medium detector such as PETALO. Results show that the system is feasible, with the introduction of a fast compression technique to further reduce the data bandwidth requirements.