Spatial Resolution of the Multiple Coincidences Compton Camera

In this paper we investigate the limits of spatial image resolution of Multiple Coincidences Compton Camera (MCCC). This technique is based on a simultaneous acquisition of several gammas emitted in cascade from a single nucleus. Contrary to a standard Compton camera, MCCC can theoretically provide a location of a radioactive source without complicated tomographic reconstruction. The commonly mentioned disadvantage of this method is the low probability of coincident triple gamma detection, which is necessary for the source localization. In this paper we investigate an additional fundamental restriction of the multiple coincidence approach which seriously limits the image resolution that can be achieved by MCCC. Our results suggest that it is possible to get better result in terms of spatial image resolution by reconstructing the Compton camera data without multiple coincidence principle than when using the MCCC concept.