The purpose of this study is to perform a first characterization and proof of principle investigation of a Compton camera setup composed by a scatterer component consisting of a pixelated GAGG crystal read out by a SiPM multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) and an absorber component consisting of a monolithic LaBr₃ (Ce) scintillator read out by a 256-fold multianode photomultiplier (PMT). The rationale of the study is to develop a Compton camera system as a future ion beam range verification device during particle therapy, via prompt gamma imaging. The properties to be investigated are the reconstruction efficiency and accuracy achievable with this system for detecting prompt-\gamma rays. The Compton camera system described has been tested with a laboratory radioactive Cesium137 source, in a certain geometrical configuration. The readout system is based on individual spectroscopy (NIM+VME) electronic modules, digitizing energy and time signals. The data have been analyzed to produce an input for the image reconstruction, performed using the MEGAlib toolkit software.

A Compton camera-based detector system for photon detection from nuclear reactions induced by proton (or heavier ion) beams is under development at LMU Munich, targeting the online range verification of the particle beam in hadron therapy via prompt-gamma imaging. The detector is designed to be capable to reconstruct the photon source origin not only from the Compton scattering kinematics of the primary photon, but also to allow for tracking of the secondary Compton-scattered electrons, thus enabling a γ-source reconstruction also from incompletely absorbed photon events. The Compton camera consists of a monolithic LaBr₃:Ce scintillation crystal, read out by a multi-anode PMT acting as absorber, preceded by a stacked array of 6 double-sided silicon strip detectors as scatterers. The detector components have been characterized both under offline and online conditions. The LaBr₃:Ce crystal exhibits an excellent time and energy resolution. Using intense collimated ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co sources, the monolithic scintillator was scanned on a fine 2D grid to generate a reference library of light amplitude distributions that allows for reconstructing the photon interaction position using a k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN) algorithm. Systematic studies were performed to investigate the performance of the reconstruction algorithm, revealing an improvement of the spatial resolution with increasing photon energy to an optimum value of 3.7(1)mm at 1.33 MeV, achieved with the Categorical Average Pattern (CAP) modification of the k-NN algorithm.

Compton camera prototype for a position-sensitive detection of prompt γ rays from proton-induced nuclear reactions is being developed in Garching. The detector system allows to track the Comptonscattered electrons. The camera consists of a monolithic LaBr₃:Ce scintillation absorber crystal, read out by a multi-anode PMT, preceded by a stacked array of 6 double-sided silicon strip detectors acting as scatterers. The LaBr₃:Ce crystal has been characterized with radioactive sources. Online commissioning measurements were performed with a pulsed deuteron beam at the Garching Tandem accelerator and with a clinical proton beam at the OncoRay facility in Dresden. The determination of the interaction point of the photons in the monolithic crystal was investigated.