BREAST CANCER SPECIFIC PET INSTRUMENTATION

该项目的总体目标是开发其几何形状的PET摄像机 最适合检测乳腺癌或腋窝淋巴结受累。 这些乳房X光检查后的工具将确定是否可疑 在乳房X光检查中观察到的结构有新陈代谢增加或 与乳腺癌相关的化学物质，以及对代谢的成像 腋窝活动度决定腋窝结节的范围 参与其中。建议的工具有可能提供 一种经济高效、非侵入性的活组织检查替代方案，而且 有关腋窝结节受累的信息，无法从 现有的技术。 提议的技术在很大程度上依赖于FDG是一种优秀的 乳腺癌示踪剂，特异性低于90%， 选择性和肿瘤与正常组织8：1的对比度，AS 用常规的PET成像进行测量。拟议的文书有 比传统的PET摄像机更高的灵敏度和空间分辨率， 因此可以快速识别癌变和腋窝病变 对于尺寸小于5 mm且尺寸较小(小于 1MCI)注射FDG剂量。 该项目的重点是开发必要的探测器技术 和重建算法，最终得到幻影的图像--不 病人或动物将被成像。这些摄像机是基于探测器的 由大量小型LSO闪烁体组成的模块设计 晶体，每个晶体的一端连接到光电倍增管(其 提供定时脉冲和能量辨别)，并且在另一端 一个单独的硅光电二极管(它识别晶体 并测量晶体内相互作用的深度)。 36个这样的探测器模块被放置在非常接近 乳房(类似于乳房X光摄影单位)或腋窝(类似于小的 直径的PET环)。这些几何形状提高了灵敏度和 与传统的PET相机相比，空间分辨率显著- 对于乳房来说，敏感度的增加是4-30倍，也是一个因素 在腋窝成像时为1-10。 少量的探测器将摄像机成本降低了一个数量级 与传统的BET相机相比，当与 所需的放射性药物数量越少，这一发展就可能 大大降低了患者检查的成本。这些摄像机是 专门为乳腺癌设计的，但探测器模块 开发的产品也可以集成到高分辨率的PET相机中 用传统的几何形状。这些设计完成后，将是 提供给私营企业整合到临床仪器中。

The overall aim of this project is to develop PET cameras whose geometry is optimized for detecting breast cancer or axillary node involvement. These post-mammography tools would determine whether suspicious structures observed in mammograms have the increased metabolism or chemistry associated with breast cancers, as well as image the metabolic activity in the axilla to determine the extent of axillary node involvement. The instrumentation proposed has the potential to provide a cost effective, non-invasive alternative to biopsy as well as accurate information on axillary node involvement that is not available from existing techniques. The proposed technique relies heavily on the fact the FDG is an excellent tracer for breast cancer, with less than ninety percent specificity and selectivity and a tumor to normal tissue contrast ratio of 8:1, as measured with conventional PET imaging. The proposed instruments have higher sensitivity and spatial resolution than conventional PET cameras, and so allow rapid identification of cancerous lesions and axillary involvement for structures down to 5 mm in size with a small (less than 1 mCi) injected dose of FDG. The project focuses on development of the necessary detector technology and reconstruction algorithms culminating with images of phantoms - no patients or animals will be imaged. The cameras are based on a detector module design consisting of a large number of small LSO scintillator crystals, each coupled on one end to a photomultiplier tube (which provides a timing pulse and energy discrimination) and on the other end to an individual silicon photodiode (which identifies the crystal of interaction and measures the depth of interaction within the crystal). Thirty-six such detector modules are placed in close proximity to the breast (similar to a mammography unit) or the axilla (similar to a small diameter PET ring). These geometries improve the sensitivity and the spatial resolution significantly compared to a conventional PET camera - the sensitivity increase is a factor of 4-30 for the breast and a factor of 1-10 when imaging the axilla. The small number of detectors reduces the camera cost by an order of magnitude compared to a conventional BET camera, and when combined with the lower amount of radio-pharmaceutical needed, this development could reduce the cost of a patient examination significantly. These cameras are designed specifically for breast cancer, but the detector module developed could also be incorporated into high resolution PET cameras with conventional geometries. These designs, when complete, will be offered to private industry to incorporate into a clinical instrument.