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

项目总结 当前头颈部癌症诊疗规划存在空间差的问题 全身正电子发射断层扫描的分辨率。在脖子上，哪里 组织层薄，WB-PET的空间分辨率(4-6 mm)不足以评估 小淋巴结(&lt；5 mm)，确定肿瘤局部侵袭的程度，并引导 决定切除肿瘤，而不是照射和提供化疗。这项提议， 响应PAR-18-009《要在体内进行翻译和验证的学术-产业伙伴关系 癌症成像系统“试图通过转换高分辨率辐射来解决这个问题 检测技术以头颈部成像为主。项目研究团队由以下人员组成 来自华盛顿大学核子、等离子体和放射工程系的研究人员 伊利诺伊大学香槟分校和电动汽车产品公司，世界领先的 用于辐射检测的半导体。为了实现它的目标，这项研究将追求设计， 头颈部专用PET的开发、优化、表征和验证 扫描仪。拟议的系统将是第一台具有以下特点的头颈部扫描仪 小至1毫米，具有高光子灵敏度，通过使用高能量和空间 碲化锌镉(CZT)晶体的分辨性能该系统将集成到 一个可移动的平台，旨在不干扰世界银行的常规工作流程- PET扫描程序，并具有用于动态PET研究的额外吸引力。 我们预计这款专用的头颈部PET成像系统将提供以下新功能 能力：一)检测和评估小淋巴结，二)改进治疗计划 和确定肿瘤生长的程度，以及iii)提高了区分的信心 从肿瘤复发到治疗后的变化。该系统将由两个面板组成，并具有 面板到面板间隔距离的调整。每个面板大小为150、4x4x0.5 cm3 覆盖20x15 cm2面板面积的交叉条状CZT晶体。这些水晶将安装在一个 用于提高光子探测效率的边沿配置。一种新的事件恢复方案 基于3D位置敏感的交叉条带晶体将被开发来恢复多个 相互作用光子事件，拒绝随机事件，显著提高光子灵敏度 对系统的影响。在该项目的最后一年，将进行一项由20名患者组成的研究 评估开发的原型的性能，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.