PROCESSING EVENT DATA IN PET IMAGING

A positron emission tomography imaging system (100) includes a plurality of detector elements (1301..i) and a plurality of compute elements (1401..j). Each compute element (1401..j) comprises one or more of the detector elements (1301..i), and the compute elements (1401..j) are arranged around the bore (110) of the PET imaging system. Each compute element (1401..j) includes a first communication path (1601..j) coupling the compute element to an adjacent compute element in a circumferential direction around the bore, and a second communication path (1701..j) coupling the compute element to a non-adjacent compute element in the circumferential direction. Each compute element (1401..j) includes a processor configured to receive the event data generated by its one or more detector elements (130i..i), and to communicate the event data to the processor of its adjacent compute element, and to the processor of its non-adjacent compute element, via its first communication path (1601..j), and via its second communication path (1701..j), respectively.