Novel small animal PET scanner using 2.0 mm lead-walled straw detectors

使用 2.0 毫米铅壁吸管探测器的新型小动物 PET 扫描仪

• 批准号: 7326740
• 负责人: JEFFREY L LACY
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: PROPORTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-07-05 至 2009-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7326740
• 关键词: 3-Dimensional; Aging; Animal Model; Animals; Arts; Back; Benchmarking; Biological Process; Blur; Brain imaging; Breast; Caliber; Clinical assessments; Count; Depth; Development; Devices; Dimensions; Disease; Electronics; Elements; Employee Strikes; Event; Facility Construction Funding Category; Funding; Futility; Gamma Rays; Gases; Grant; Grouping; Heart; Human; Image; Imaging Device; Imaging Phantoms; Imaging Techniques; Immunity; Invasive; Investigation; Lead; Length; Life; Location; Marketing; Measures; Methods; Mission; Modeling; Molecular; Monitor; Mus; Numbers; Operative Surgical Procedures; Organ; Performance; Phase; Placement; Positioning Attribute; Positron; Positron-Emission Tomography; Property; Radioisotopes; Rate; Rattus; Relative (related person); Research; Resolution; Rotation; Simulate; Small Business Funding Mechanisms; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Solid; Source; Staging; Structure; System; Techniques; Technology; Test Result; Testing; Time; Tracer; United States National Institutes of Health; Variant; attenuation; base; cost; density; design; detector; human disease; improved; in vivo; instrument; instrumentation; molecular imaging; mouse model; novel; novel strategies; optical imaging; prevent; quality assurance; quantum; reconstruction; response; simulation; size; tool; tumor; uptake

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Molecular imaging techniques are among the most powerful tools for non-invasive investigation of disease and fundamental biological processes in vivo and are therefore of high significance to the mission of the NIH. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) provides sensitivity to molecular tracer concentrations several orders of magnitude less than any other imaging technique offering a large fundamental sensitivity advantage. Also PET is able to produce rigorous quantitative 3D uptake distribution uniquely free of attenuation and scatter effects giving it another strong advantage over other methods such as optical imaging. Since mouse is by far the most popular species in molecular imaging, high resolution is of exceptional importance. A number of commercial scintillator based dedicated small animal PET scanners are on the market but are limited to a useful volumetric imaging resolution of no better than 5 ¿l and are very costly ($500,000 - $850,000). Recent attempts to reduce crystal size to levels needed to improve resolution performance have shown that depth of interaction (DOI) error reduces improvement to marginal levels despite substantial cost increase demonstrating the futility of the approach. Development of a low cost, high resolution PET scanner is proposed based on revolutionary detector elements composed of lead walled straws (LWS). Compared to scintillation crystal detectors, this technology is intrinsically many fold less expensive to produce and because the position of each detected gamma ray is located precisely in 3D space, fundamentally superior camera configurations can be employed to great advantage. Detectors can be placed very close to the imaged subject and events accepted over a substantially larger solid angle providing unparalleled sensitivity while maintaining immunity from resolution degradation caused by DOI. Unlike crystal devices with DOI problems, resolution performance of LWS devices scales precisely with detector dimension. Based on scaling of performance achieved in a 4 mm straw pilot device backed up by a comprehensive Monte Carlo study an optimally designed 2 mm LWS camera can reach at least a volumetric resolution of 1.2 ¿l and with recently demonstrated resolution refinements should achieve a further reduction to 0.58 ¿l. Furthermore using a very small detector module count of 28, a 4 fold increase in sensitivity and throughput can be achieved. In stark contrast to crystal devices the LWS camera design produces highly uniform sensitivity and resolution over its entire very large field of view. Feasibility will be demonstrated by construction of two densely packed 200 straw LWS modules of 30 - 50 cm length. Imaging performance using a rotating gantry will be evaluated through phantom testing. Lower cost combined with quantum improvement in quality will afford an exceptional new molecular imaging tool.

描述（由申请人提供）：分子成像技术是用于体内疾病和基本生物学过程的非侵入性研究的最有力工具之一，因此对NIH的使命具有重要意义。正电子发射断层扫描（PET）提供的分子示踪剂浓度的灵敏度比任何其他成像技术低几个数量级，提供了很大的基本灵敏度优势。此外，PET能够产生严格的定量3D摄取分布，独特地没有衰减和散射效应，这使其比其他方法（例如光学成像）具有另一个强大的优势。由于小鼠是迄今为止分子成像中最受欢迎的物种，因此高分辨率是特别重要的。市场上有许多基于商业闪烁体的专用小动物PET扫描仪，但限于不超过5升的有用体积成像分辨率，并且非常昂贵（500，000 - 850，000美元）。最近尝试将晶体尺寸减小到提高分辨率性能所需的水平，结果表明，尽管成本大幅增加，但相互作用深度（DOI）误差将改善降低到边际水平，这表明该方法是徒劳的。提出了一种低成本、高分辨率PET扫描仪的研制，该扫描仪基于由铅壁吸管（LWS）组成的革命性探测器元件。与闪烁晶体探测器相比，该技术本质上生产起来便宜许多倍，并且因为每个探测到的伽马射线的位置精确地位于3D空间中，所以可以采用基本上上级的相机配置以获得很大的优势。探测器可以放置在非常接近成像的主题和事件接受了一个相当大的立体角提供无与伦比的灵敏度，同时保持免疫力从分辨率下降造成的DOI。与具有DOI问题的晶体器件不同，LWS器件的分辨率性能与探测器尺寸精确地成比例。基于4 mm吸管试验设备中实现的性能缩放，并通过全面的Monte Carlo研究得到支持，优化设计的2 mm LWS相机可以达到至少1.2升的体积分辨率，并且最近证明的分辨率改进应该进一步降低到0.58升。此外，使用28个非常小的检测器模块计数，可以实现灵敏度和吞吐量的4倍增加。与晶体器件形成鲜明对比的是，LWS相机设计在其整个非常大的视场内产生高度均匀的灵敏度和分辨率。可行性将通过建造两个30 - 50厘米长的密集的200根秸秆LWS模块来证明。将通过体模测试评价使用旋转机架的成像性能。较低的成本与质量的量子改进相结合，将提供一种特殊的新分子成像工具。