PETsys Electronics
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Medical equipment Electronics |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | João Varela, Vasco Varela, Stefaan Tavernier |
| Headquarters | Oeiras, Portugal |
| Parent | PETsys Medical PET Imaging Systems S.A. |
| Website | www |
PETsys Electronics is a Portuguese technology company founded in 2013 as a spin-off from the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP) and CERN. The company's products are detector readout electronics based on silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) for positron emission tomography (PET) medical imaging, particle physics research, and other scientific applications.[1][2][3][4]
History
PETsys Electronics traces its origins to research activities in PET detector development conducted in Portugal and at CERN beginning in the early 2000s. A significant precursor was the PET-Mammography Consortium, established in 2003 and coordinated by João Varela, involving researchers from Portuguese institutions including LIP and INESC-ID, in collaboration with CERN’s Crystal Clear Collaboration.[5][6]
In 2008, PETsys Medical PET Imaging Systems S.A. was created to commercialize PET imaging technologies emerging from this research, with support from European Union and Portuguese funding programs.[7] As detector technologies transitioned toward SiPM-based time-of-flight PET, PETsys Electronics S.A. was founded in 2013 as a separate company focused on readout electronics and data acquisition systems.[8]
Key milestones include the development of the TOFPET family of ASICs for SiPM readout, participation in international research collaborations, and receipt of the CMS Industrial Gold Award from CERN in 2023 for contributions to detector electronics for the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment.[2]
The company has received funding through initiatives including Horizon 2020, Portugal 2020, and Portugal Ventures.[9]
Products
PETsys Electronics develops modular electronics and detector components for use in PET imaging systems and experimental detector platforms. Its product portfolio includes application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), front-end electronics modules, data acquisition systems, and detector modules based on scintillation crystals coupled to silicon photomultipliers.[10]
The company’s TOFPET family of ASICs is designed for multi-channel SiPM readout in time-of-flight PET systems and has been evaluated in a range of research and prototype imaging platforms.[1][11][12]
Technology
PETsys Electronics develops integrated readout solutions for fast photon detectors, combining signal amplification, timing measurement, and charge digitization within compact electronics architectures. These technologies are designed to support scalable detector arrays and operation in environments requiring precise timing and low noise performance.[11][13]
The company’s ASICs and detector modules have been characterized in peer-reviewed studies and incorporated into experimental systems capable of time-of-flight and depth-of-interaction measurements.[14][15]
Applications
Medical imaging
PETsys Electronics components are used in research, preclinical, and experimental clinical PET imaging systems, including whole-body, breast, and small-animal scanners. Studies incorporating its electronics have investigated detector performance and time-of-flight PET image reconstruction techniques.[11][15]
In proton therapy research, PETsys technologies have been used in experimental in-beam PET systems designed to study proton beam range verification through positron-emitting radionuclides generated during irradiation.[16][17][18]
Other applications
Beyond medical imaging, PETsys Electronics’ technologies have been used in particle physics detectors at CERN and other research facilities, as well as in applications such as LIDAR, radiation detection, and geophysical imaging.[2][19]
Research and collaborations
PETsys Electronics technologies have been integrated into more than 20 research prototypes and experimental detector systems developed by academic and institutional users. The company has collaborated with research groups associated with organizations such as CERN, RWTH Aachen University, and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), contributing electronics and detector systems evaluated in peer-reviewed publications.[20]
References
- ^ a b Di Francesco, A.; Bugalho, R.; Oliveira, L.; et al. (2016). "TOFPET2: a high-performance ASIC for time and amplitude measurements of SiPM signals in time-of-flight applications". Journal of Instrumentation. 11 (3): C03042. Bibcode:2016JInst..11C3042D. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/11/03/C03042.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link) - ^ a b c "CMS Industry Gold Awards 2023". CERN. 2024-06-25.
- ^ "PETSYS ELECTRONICS - MEDICAL PET DETECTORS, S.A." Retrieved January 14, 2025.
- ^ "LIP Annual Report 2025–25" (PDF). LIP. 2023.
- ^ "ClearPEM clarifies breast cancer diagnosis". CERN Courier. 2013-07-19.
- ^ Albuquerque, E. (2006). "Clear-PEM: A PET imaging system dedicated to breast cancer diagnostics". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A. 568 (2): 839–849. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2006.10.034.
- ^ "PET developments at LIP/Lisbon & PETsys". CERN.
- ^ "High-definition imaging to improve early diagnosis of cancer". UPM.
- ^ "Petsys". Portugal Ventures. 24 March 2019.
- ^ "Products". PETsys Electronics.
- ^ a b c "Evaluation of the PETsys TOFPET2 ASIC in multi-channel configurations for PET imaging". EJNMMI Physics. 8 (1): 34. 2021. doi:10.1186/s40658-021-00370-x. PMC 7991069.
- ^ Nadig, Vanessa; Schug, David; Weissler, Bjoern; Schulz, Volkmar (2021). "Evaluation of the PETsys TOFPET2 ASIC in multi-channel coincidence experiments". EJNMMI Physics. 8 (30) 30. doi:10.1186/s40658-021-00370-x. PMC 7991069. PMID 33761038.
- ^ "ASICs and readout systems for photosensors – PET scanners and beyond". ESA.
- ^ Bugalho, R.; Francesco, A. Di; Ferramacho, L.; Leong, C.; Niknejad, T.; Oliveira, L.; Rolo, M.; Silva, J.C.; Silva, R.; Silveira, M.; Tavernier, S.; Varela, J. (2019). "Experimental characterization of the TOFPET2 ASIC". Journal of Instrumentation. 14 (3): P03029. Bibcode:2019JInst..14P3029B. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/14/03/P03029.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link) - ^ a b "Exploring the performance of a DOI-capable TOF-PET module using the TOFPET2 ASIC". Physics in Medicine & Biology. 68 (3): 035005. 2023. doi:10.1088/1361-6560/ada19a. hdl:10281/553911.
- ^ Abouzahr, F.; Cesar, J. P.; Crespo, P.; Gajda, M.; Hu, Z.; Klein, K.; Kuo, A. S.; Majewski, S.; Mawlawi, O.; Morozov, A.; Ojha, A.; Poenisch, F.; Proga, M.; Sahoo, N.; Seco, J.; Takaoka, T.; Tavernier, S.; Titt, U.; Wang, X.; Zhu, X. R.; Lang, K. (2023). "The first probe of a FLASH proton beam by PET". Physics in Medicine & Biology. 68 (23): 235002. Bibcode:2023PMB....68w5004A. doi:10.1088/1361-6560/ad0901. PMID 37918021.
- ^ "TOF-PET for Proton Therapy (TPPT)". PETsys Electronics.
- ^ "TOF-PET for Proton Therapy (TPPT)". UT Austin Portugal. 20 July 2023.
- ^ "Técnico spin-offs will represent Portugal at the Web Summit". Instituto Superior Técnico. 22 September 2016.
- ^ Nadig, Vanessa; Gundacker, Stefan; Herweg, Katrin; Naunheim, Stephan; Schug, David; Weissler, Bjoern; Schulz, Volkmar (2025). "ASICs in PET: what we have and what we need". EJNMMI Physics. 12 (1) 16: 13. doi:10.1186/s40658-025-00717-8.