A Fast, High Luminosity Scintillator for PET

描述（由申请人提供）： 正电子发射断层扫描（PET）是一种核成像模式，它利用一系列正电子发射示踪剂来提供反映与肿瘤生物学相关的不同参数的图像。肿瘤细胞通常在许多方面不同于正常细胞，包括葡萄糖利用率、增殖和蛋白质合成。PET示踪剂如葡萄糖和胸苷类似物以及氨基酸通常在肿瘤细胞中显示高摄取。事实上，18F氟脱氧葡萄糖（FDG）全身PET成像现在是一种成熟的诊断程序，用于分期和协助许多不同类型癌症患者的管理选择。PET技术的最新发展正在导致更专业的PET系统，特别是用于乳腺成像和乳腺癌的应用。其动机是以比传统全身PET扫描仪更低的成本获得更好的性能。 很明显，PET技术在现代癌症研究和临床诊断中发挥着突出和日益明显的作用。然而，迫切需要改进PET仪器，以充分利用这种强大的成像方式的潜力。所提出的努力的目标是调查一种新的有前途的闪烁体PET成像的晶体。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a nuclear imaging modality that makes use of a range of positron-emitting tracers to provide images that reflect different parameters relevant to tumor biology. Tumor cells generally differ from normal cells in many respects, including rates of glucose utilization, proliferation and protein synthesis. PET tracers such as glucose and thymidine analogs, and amino acids, generally show high uptake in tumor cells. Indeed, whole-body PET imaging with 18Ffluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is now a well established diagnostic procedure that is used for staging and assisting in management choices of patients with many different types of cancers. Recent developments in PET technology are leading towards more specialized PET systems, particularly for breast imaging and applications in breast cancer. The motivation is to obtain better performance at a lower cost than with conventional whole-body PET scanners. It is clear that PET technology is playing a prominent and an increasingly visible role in modem cancer research and clinical diagnosis. However, there is urgent need for improvement in PET instrumentation in order to exploit the full potential of this powerful imaging modality. The goal of the proposed effort is to investigate crystals of a new promising scintillator for PET imaging.