44 research outputs found
J-PET: a new technology for the whole-body PET imaging
The Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomograph (J-PET) is the first PET built
from plastic scintillators. J-PET prototype consists of 192 detection modules
arranged axially in three layers forming a cylindrical diagnostic chamber with
the inner diameter of 85 cm and the axial field-of-view of 50 cm. An axial
arrangement of long strips of plastic scintillators, their small light
attenuation, superior timing properties, and relative ease of the increase of
the axial field-of-view opens promising perspectives for the cost effective
construction of the whole-body PET scanner, as well as construction of MR and
CT compatible PET inserts. Present status of the development of the J-PET
tomograph will be presented and discussed.Comment: Presented at the 2nd Jagiellonian Symposium on Fundamental and
Applied Subatomic Physics, Krak\'ow, Poland, June 4-9, 2017. To be published
in Acta Phys. Pol.
Commissioning of the J-PET detector for studies of decays of positronium atoms
The Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomograph (J-PET) is a detector for
medical imaging of the whole human body as well as for physics studies
involving detection of electron-positron annihilation into photons. J-PET has
high angular and time resolution and allows for measurement of spin of the
positronium and the momenta and polarization vectors of annihilation quanta. In
this article, we present the potential of the J-PET system for background
rejection in the decays of positronium atoms.Comment: Presented at the 2nd Jagiellonian Symposium on Fundamental and
Applied Subatomic Physics, Krak\'ow, Poland, June 4-9, 2017. To be published
in Acta Phys. Pol.
Feasibility studies of the polarization of photons beyond the optical wavelength regime with the J-PET detector
J-PET is a detector optimized for registration of photons from the
electron-positron annihilation via plastic scintillators where photons interact
predominantly via Compton scattering. Registration of both primary and
scattered photons enables to determinate the linear polarization of the primary
photon on the event by event basis with a certain probability. Here we present
quantitative results on the feasibility of such polarization measurements of
photons from the decay of positronium with the J-PET and explore the physical
limitations for the resolution of the polarization determination of 511 keV
photons via Compton scattering. For scattering angles of about 82 deg (where
the best contrast for polarization measurement is theoretically predicted) we
find that the single event resolution for the determination of the polarization
is about 40 deg (predominantly due to properties of the Compton effect).
However, for samples larger than ten thousand events the J-PET is capable of
determining relative average polarization of these photons with the precision
of about few degrees. The obtained results open new perspectives for studies of
various physics phenomena such as quantum entanglement and tests of discrete
symmetries in decays of positronium and extend the energy range of polarization
measurements by five orders of magnitude beyond the optical wavelength regime.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, submitted to EPJ
Three-dimensional image reconstruction in J-PET using Filtered Back Projection method
We present a method and preliminary results of the image reconstruction in
the Jagiellonian PET tomograph. Using GATE (Geant4 Application for Tomographic
Emission), interactions of the 511 keV photons with a cylindrical detector were
generated. Pairs of such photons, flying back-to-back, originate from e+e-
annihilations inside a 1-mm spherical source. Spatial and temporal coordinates
of hits were smeared using experimental resolutions of the detector. We
incorporated the algorithm of the 3D Filtered Back Projection, implemented in
the STIR and TomoPy software packages, which differ in approximation methods.
Consistent results for the Point Spread Functions of ~5/7,mm and ~9/20, mm were
obtained, using STIR, for transverse and longitudinal directions, respectively,
with no time of flight information included.Comment: Presented at the 2nd Jagiellonian Symposium on Fundamental and
Applied Subatomic Physics, Krak\'ow, Poland, June 4-9, 2017. To be published
in Acta Phys. Pol.
Evaluation of Single-Chip, Real-Time Tomographic Data Processing on FPGA - SoC Devices
A novel approach to tomographic data processing has been developed and
evaluated using the Jagiellonian PET (J-PET) scanner as an example. We propose
a system in which there is no need for powerful, local to the scanner
processing facility, capable to reconstruct images on the fly. Instead we
introduce a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) System-on-Chip (SoC) platform
connected directly to data streams coming from the scanner, which can perform
event building, filtering, coincidence search and Region-Of-Response (ROR)
reconstruction by the programmable logic and visualization by the integrated
processors. The platform significantly reduces data volume converting raw data
to a list-mode representation, while generating visualization on the fly.Comment: IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 17 May 201
Simulation studies of annihilation-photon's polarisation via Compton scattering with the J-PET tomograph
J-PET is the first positron-emission tomograph (PET) constructed from plastic
scintillators. It was optimized for the detection of photons from
electron-positron annihilation. Such photons, having an energy of 511 keV,
interact with electrons in plastic scintillators predominantly via the Compton
effect. Compton scattering is at most probable at an angle orthogonal to the
electric field vector of the interacting photon. Thus registration of multiple
photon scatterings with J-PET enables to determine the polarization of the
annihilation photons. In this contribution we present estimates on the physical
limitation in the accuracy of the polarization determination of ~keV
photons with the J-PET detector.Comment: Submitted to Hyperfine Interaction
Analysis procedure of the positronium lifetime spectra for the J-PET detector
Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) has shown to be a powerful
tool to study the nanostructures of porous materials. Positron Emissions
Tomography (PET) are devices allowing imaging of metabolic processes e.g. in
human bodies. A newly developed device, the J-PET (Jagiellonian PET), will
allow PALS in addition to imaging, thus combining both analyses providing new
methods for physics and medicine. In this contribution we present a computer
program that is compatible with the J-PET software. We compare its performance
with the standard program LT 9.0 by using PALS data from hexane measurements at
different temperatures. Our program is based on an iterative procedure, and our
fits prove that it performs as good as LT 9.0.Comment: 4 figures, 8 page
Optimisation of the event-based TOF filtered back-projection for online imaging in total-body J-PET
We perform a parametric study of the newly developed time-of-flight (TOF)
image reconstruction algorithm, proposed for the real-time imaging in
total-body Jagiellonian PET (J-PET) scanners. The asymmetric 3D filtering
kernel is applied at each most likely position of electron-positron
annihilation, estimated from the emissions of back-to-back -photons.
The optimisation of its parameters is studied using Monte Carlo simulations of
a 1-mm spherical source, NEMA IEC and XCAT phantoms inside the ideal J-PET
scanner. The combination of high-pass filters which included the TOF filtered
back-projection (FBP), resulted in spatial resolution, 1.5 higher in
the axial direction than for the conventional 3D FBP. For realistic -minute
scans of NEMA IEC and XCAT, which require a trade-off between the noise and
spatial resolution, the need for Gaussian TOF kernel components, coupled with
median post-filtering, is demonstrated. The best sets of 3D filter parameters
were obtained by the Nelder-Mead minimisation of the mean squared error between
the resulting and reference images. The approach allows training the
reconstruction algorithm for custom scans, using the IEC phantom, when the
temporal resolution is below 50 ps. The image quality parameters, estimated for
the best outcomes, were systematically better than for the non-TOF FBP
Feasibility study of the positronium imaging with the J-PET tomograph
A detection system of the conventional PET tomograph is set-up to record data
from e+ e- annihilation into two photons with energy of 511 keV, and it gives
information on the density distribution of a radiopharmaceutical in the body of
the object. In this paper we explore the possibility of performing the three
gamma photons imaging based on ortho-positronium annihilation, as well as the
possibility of positronium mean lifetime imaging with the J-PET tomograph
constructed from plastic scintillators. For this purposes simulations of the
ortho-positronium formation and its annihilation into three photons were
performed taking into account distributions of photons' momenta as predicted by
the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the response of the J-PET tomograph.
In order to test the proposed ortho-positronium lifetime image reconstruction
method, we concentrate on the decay of the ortho-positronium into three photons
and applications of radiopharmaceuticals labeled with isotopes emitting a
prompt gamma quantum. The proposed method of imaging is based on the
determination of hit-times and hit-positions of registered photons which
enables the reconstruction of the time and position of the annihilation point
as well as the lifetime of the ortho-positronium on an event-by-event basis. We
have simulated the production of the positronium in a cylindrical phantom
composed of a set of different materials in which the ortho-positronium
lifetime varied from 2.0 ns to 3.0 ns, as expected for ortho-positronium
created in the human body. The presented reconstruction method for total-body
J-PET like detector allows to achieve a mean lifetime resolution of about 40
ps. Recent Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy measurements of
cancerous and healthy uterine tissues show that this sensitivity may allow to
study the morphological changes in cell structures.Comment: accepted in PMB
(http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6560/aafe20
A feasibility study of the time reversal violation test based on polarization of annihilation photons from the decay of ortho-Positronium with the J-PET detector
The Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomograph (J-PET) is a novel de- vice
being developed at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland based on or- ganic
scintillators. J-PET is an axially symmetric and high acceptance scanner that
can be used as a multi-purpose detector system. It is well suited to pur- sue
tests of discrete symmetries in decays of positronium in addition to medical
imaging. J-PET enables the measurement of both momenta and the polarization
vectors of annihilation photons. The latter is a unique feature of the J-PET
detector which allows the study of time reversal symmetry violation operator
which can be constructed solely from the annihilation photons momenta before
and after the scattering in the detector