Computational sciences and nuclear medicine imaging

核医学成像技术以其分子特征和特殊的灵敏度在现代医学中发挥着重要作用。通过提供关于用放射性同位素标记的示踪分子的生物分布的体内功能信息，它们不仅允许鉴定改变的解剖结构和功能以帮助诊断疾病，而且还允许定位分子受体位点，研究由患病细胞表达的生物标记物，以及监测特定疾病过程的存在和程度。医学影像研究小组（MIRG）研究计划的主要目标是利用先进的物理学，数学和计算机科学（统称为“计算科学”）开发新的和改进的诊断核医学方法，适用于日常临床实践和医学和分子研究。MIRG的研究是在几个密切相关的领域：定量成像，动态功能成像，数据分析和可视化，以及新的成像技术的调查。我们的一些未来目标包括：（1）基于我们的统一定量SPECT方法（qSPECT）结合自动3-D体积分割例程的精确剂量测定技术的发展（基于水平集的方法和类似方法）以及伽马光子、X射线和电子能量沉积引起的内部剂量的详细蒙特-卡罗计算，（2）进一步研究现代数学最优化技术与不同的正则化方案在重建多维动态图像系列中的应用。（3）软件开发、康普顿相机的构造和测试。基于康普顿散射光子检测并使用固态检测器的新一代相机可能提供亚毫米分辨率的真正分子成像手段（目标是对特定细胞进行成像）。

Nuclear medicine imaging techniques, with their molecular characteristics and exceptional sensitivity, play an important role in modern medicine. By providing in-vivo functional information about the biodistribution of tracer molecules labeled with radioactive isotopes, they allow not only for identification of altered anatomy and function to help diagnose disease, but also for locating molecular receptor sites, studying biological markers expressed by diseased cells, and monitoring the presence and extent of specific disease processes. The main objective of the research program of the Medical Imaging Research Group (MIRG) is to use advanced physics, mathematics and computer science (jointly called here "Computational Sciences") to develop new and improved methods for diagnostic nuclear medicine, ones suitable for use both in everyday clinical practice and in medical and molecular research. MIRG's research is in several closely related areas: quantitative imaging, dynamic functional imaging, data analysis and visualization, and the investigation of novel imaging techniques. Some of our future goals include: (1) the development of an exact dosimetry technique based on our unified quantitative SPECT method (qSPECT) combined with an automatic 3-D volume segmentation routine (level-set based and similar methods) and detailed Monte-Carlo calculations of internal dose due to energy deposition by gamma photons, X-rays and electrons, (2) further research on the application of modern mathematical optimization techniques with different regularization schemes to reconstruct a multidimensional series of dynamic images, (3) development of software, construction and testing of a Compton camera. The new generation of cameras, based on detection of Compton scattered photons and using solid state detectors can potentially provide means for truly molecular imaging with sub-millimeter resolution (with the goal to image particular cells).