44 research outputs found
A feasibility study of ortho-positronium decays measurement with the J-PET scanner based on plastic scintillators
We present a study of the application of the Jagiellonian Positron Emission
Tomograph (J-PET) for the registration of gamma quanta from decays of
ortho-positronium (o-Ps). The J-PET is the first positron emission tomography
scanner based on organic scintillators in contrast to all current PET scanners
based on inorganic crystals. Monte Carlo simulations show that the J-PET as an
axially symmetric and high acceptance scanner can be used as a multi-purpose
detector well suited to pursue research including e.g. tests of discrete
symmetries in decays of ortho-positronium in addition to the medical imaging.
The gamma quanta originating from o-Ps decay interact in the plastic
scintillators predominantly via the Compton effect, making the direct
measurement of their energy impossible. Nevertheless, it is shown in this paper
that the J-PET scanner will enable studies of the o-Ps decays with
angular and energy resolution equal to and
keV, respectively. An order of magnitude shorter decay
time of signals from plastic scintillators with respect to the inorganic
crystals results not only in better timing properties crucial for the reduction
of physical and instrumental background, but also suppresses significantly the
pileups, thus enabling compensation of the lower efficiency of the plastic
scintillators by performing measurements with higher positron source
activities
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.
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
Processing optimization with parallel computing for the J-PET tomography scanner
The Jagiellonian-PET (J-PET) collaboration is developing a prototype TOF-PET
detector based on long polymer scintillators. This novel approach exploits the
excellent time properties of the plastic scintillators, which permit very
precise time measurements. The very fast, FPGA-based front-end electronics and
the data acquisition system, as well as, low- and high-level reconstruction
algorithms were specially developed to be used with the J-PET scanner. The
TOF-PET data processing and reconstruction are time and resource demanding
operations, especially in case of a large acceptance detector, which works in
triggerless data acquisition mode. In this article, we discuss the parallel
computing methods applied to optimize the data processing for the J-PET
detector. We begin with general concepts of parallel computing and then we
discuss several applications of those techniques in the J-PET data processing.Comment: 8 page
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
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.
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
Calculation of time resolution of the J-PET tomograph using the Kernel Density Estimation
In this paper we estimate the time resolution of the J-PET scanner built from
plastic scintillators. We incorporate the method of signal processing using the
Tikhonov regularization framework and the Kernel Density Estimation method. We
obtain simple, closed-form analytical formulas for time resolutions. The
proposed method is validated using signals registered by means of the single
detection unit of the J-PET tomograph built out from 30 cm long plastic
scintillator strip. It is shown that the experimental and theoretical results,
obtained for the J-PET scanner equipped with vacuum tube photomultipliers, are
consistent.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure