Testing & validation of pre-clinical multispectral SPECT and simultaneous PET/MRI using silicon photomultiplier technology

成像技术，如单光子发射计算机断层扫描（SPECT）和正电子发射断层扫描（PET）在人类成像中发挥了宝贵的作用几十年。最近，对所谓的“混合”技术的兴趣已经复苏，该技术联合收割机两种或更多种成像模态（例如，SPECT/CT、PET/MRI）。因此，尽管对工程师来说非常具有挑战性，但用于人体PET/MRI的仪器现在已经商业化，然而，将这种技术缩放到临床前成像（即小动物成像）的物理尺寸和空间分辨率要求在许多方面更加困难。作为一个突出的例子，不存在能够真正同时进行临床前PET和MRI成像的市售仪器。因此，总部位于温尼伯的Cubresa Inc.已经开始使用硅光电倍增管（SiPM）技术，这是非常适合开发此类仪器的工作。通过先前NSERC Interaction，Engage和Engage+赠款资助的初步研究合作，研究人员与Cubresa合作开发了一种商业临床前SPECT产品，该产品能够与现有的PET/CT扫描仪集成，使用SiPM技术。Cubresa现在希望与研究人员合作1）开发和验证新的应用，包括使用他们的SPECT仪器进行多光谱成像，以及2）使用使用SiPM技术的beta版PET插件进行初始系统性能验证/基准测试以及应用演示，以便在集成到研究者的MRI设备中时能够同时进行临床前PET/MRI。

Imaging technologies such as Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have played an invaluable role in human imaging for many decades. More recently, there has been a resurgence in interest in so-called "hybrid" technologies, which combine two or more imaging modalities (e.g., SPECT/CT, PET/MRI). As such, while very challenging to engineer, instruments for human PET/MRI are now commercially available.However, scaling such technology to the physical size and spatial resolution requirements of pre-clinical imaging (i.e. small animal imaging) is in many ways more difficult. As a salient example, no commercially available instrument exists that is capable of truly simultaneous pre-clinical PET and MRI imaging. Therefore, Winnipeg-based Cubresa Inc. has begun work using Silicon-Photomultiplier (SiPM) technology, which is ideally suited to development such instruments. With an initial research collaboration funded through previous NSERC Interaction, Engage and Engage+ grants, the investigators have worked with Cubresa to develop a commercial pre-clinical SPECT product that is capable of integrating with existing PET/CT scanners, using SiPM technology.Cubresa now wishes to work with the investigators to 1) develop and validate new applications, including multispectral imaging, using their SPECT instrument, and 2) perform initial system performance verification/benchmarking as well as applications demonstration using a beta-version PET insert that uses SiPM technology to allow simultaneous pre-clinical PET/MRI when integrated into the investigator's MRI equipment.