High spatial resolution dedicated head and neck PET system based on cadmium zinc telluride detectors

项目摘要 目前头颈部癌症的诊断和治疗计划受到空间不足的影响， 全身正电子发射断层扫描（WB-PET）的分辨率。在脖子上， 组织层较薄，WB-PET的空间分辨率（4-6 mm）不足以评估 小淋巴结（<5 mm），确定肿瘤局部浸润的程度，并指导治疗。 决定切除肿瘤而不是放射治疗和化疗。这项提议， 响应PAR-18-009，“学术界与工业界合作， 癌症成像系统”，寻求解决这个问题，通过翻译高分辨率辐射 检测技术应用于头颈部成像。项目研究团队由 来自核，等离子体和放射工程系的研究人员， 伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校和eV产品公司，的世界领导者 用于辐射探测的半导体为了达到这个目的，本研究将追求设计， 专用头颈部PET的开发、优化、表征和验证 扫描仪拟议的系统将是第一个头部和颈部扫描仪， 小至1 mm，具有高光子灵敏度，通过使用高能量和空间 碲锌镉（CZT）晶体的分辨率特性。该系统将被集成到 一个可移动的阶段，并被设计为不干扰常规工作流程的WB- PET扫描程序，并且具有用于动态PET研究的额外吸引力。 我们预计，这种专用的头部和颈部PET成像系统将提供以下新的 功能：i）检测和评估小淋巴结，ii）改进治疗计划 和iii）提高鉴别肿瘤生长的置信度， 肿瘤复发的治疗后变化。该系统将由两个面板组成， 调整面板到面板的间隔距离。每个面板包含150，4x4x0.5 cm 3 覆盖20 × 15 cm 2面板面积的交叉条状CZT晶体。水晶将被安装在一个 边缘上的配置，以提高光子探测效率。一种新的事件恢复方案 基于三维位置敏感交叉条晶体将被开发用于恢复多次 相互作用光子事件，拒绝随机事件，并显着增加光子灵敏度 该系统在该项目的最后一年，将进行一项由20名患者组成的研究。 以评估所开发的原型的性能并验证潜在的好处。

PROJECT SUMMARY Current head and neck cancer diagnosis and treatment planning suffers from poor spatial resolution of whole-body positron emission tomography (WB-PET) scans. In the neck, where tissue layers are thin, the spatial resolution of WB-PET (4-6 mm) is not sufficient to evaluate small lymph nodes (<5 mm), establish how far the tumor has invaded locally, and guide the decision to resect a tumor rather than irradiate and deliver chemotherapy. This proposal, responsive to PAR-18-009, “Academic-Industrial Partnerships to Translate and Validate in vivo Cancer Imaging Systems,” seeks to address this problem by translating high resolution radiation detection technology to head and neck imaging. The project research team consists of researchers from the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and eV Products Inc., a world leader in semiconductors for radiation detection. To achieve its goal, this research will pursue the design, development, optimization, characterization, and validation of a dedicated head and neck PET scanner. The proposed system will be the first head and neck scanner to exhibit features as small as 1 mm with high photon sensitivity, enabled by the use of high energy and spatial resolution properties of cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) crystals. This system will be integrated into a transportable stage and is designed to not interfere with the conventional workflow of the WB- PET scan procedure, and has the additional attraction of being used for dynamic PET studies. We expect that this dedicated head and neck PET imaging system will deliver the following new capabilities: i) detection and evaluation of small lymph nodes, ii) improved treatment planning and determining the extent of the tumor growth, and iii) improved confidence in differentiating post-treatment change from tumor recurrence. The system will consist of two panels and have an adjustment for panel-to-panel separation distance. Each panel contains 150, 4x4x0.5 cm3 cross-strip CZT crystals covering a 20x15 cm2 panel area. The crystals will be mounted in an edge-on configuration for increased photon detection efficiency. A novel event recovery scheme based on the 3D position sensitive cross-strip crystals will be developed to recover multiple interaction photon events, reject random events, and significantly increase the photon sensitivity of the system. In the final year of the project, a study consisting of 20 patients will be conducted to evaluate the performance of the developed prototype and validate the potential benefits.