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We have put considerable effort into simplifying the installation process, removing compiler warnings, and making SimSET 64-bit compatible. (We know we have more work to do with this last item.) One improvement: the user no longer needs to edit the directory paths in phg.data/phg_ad_files. Because of the changes, we recommend that even very experienced users follow the installation instructions on the web pages. We welcome feedback on any remaining issues and suggestions for further improvements.
A new option was added to the block detector feature. The user now has a choice between using the center of the crystal nearest the energy-weighted centroid (the default and only previous option) or just using the energy-weighted centroid (a new option). See the block detector sections of the Detector page. Note that all the photon interactions in the detectors are saved as part of the photon, so that users can create user functions to simulate more complicated, scanner specific detector positioning.
Major changes have been made to the user functions to make them more flexible and efficient. Users who have previously written user functions will need to modify them to adapt to the new format. A new User Function page in the User Guide explains how to write a user function, how to adapt old user functions to the new format (quite simple and straightforward!), and gives two examples.
One of the user function examples provides an algorithm for PET triple coincidence processing. This algorithm is closer to the processing used by most modern tomographs than SimSET’s usual triple coincidence algorithm. This may be useful to users seeking a better approximation to a particular tomograph’s coincidence processing or as a starting point for even more accurate, scanner specific modelling.
As the SimSET software parses the text input files, it replaces all instances of the string '@simset' with the directory path specified as SIMSET_PATH in the makefile - for instance, we are distributing the default makefile, make.files/simset.make, with 'SIMSET_PATH = /Users/useruser/Desktop/2.9.2', so all instances of '@simset' will be replaced by '/Users/useruser/Desktop/2.9.2'. To see a usage example, see the file phg.data/phg_ad_files - notice that each line now starts with '@simset'. This is how we eliminated the need for users to edit the directory paths in phg.data/phg_ad_files, as mentioned above in 'Simpler installation'. Users can use this to simplify the specification of files in the parameter files and to improve portability. See the directions for configuring the Photon History Generator for more information.
Several changes have been made to simplify compilation under Windows. (Note: we do not officially support Windows and often don't have the expertise to answer Windows-specific questions. Feel free to ask, though.) We have also eliminated several segmentation errors that appeared on some 64-bit Linux systems, though we have some more work to do here. Please let us know when you run into problems.
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