Development of PET scanners with Compton scattering by plastic scintillators

• Project/Area Number: 16H06238
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Medical Physics and Radiological Technology
• Research Institution: Yamagata University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamori Takeshi 山形大学, 理学部, 准教授 (30531876)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥24,960,000 (Direct Cost: ¥19,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥5,760,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥15,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,510,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥8,320,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,920,000)
• Keywords: 陽電子断層撮像 / PET / MPPC / コンプトン散乱 / プラスチックシンチレータ / 飛行時間計測 / TOF-PET / SiPM / TOF / シンチレータ / 半導体光センサ / DOI / 半導体光検出器

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have develop sensor heads for a positron emission tomography (PET) using Compton scattering at plastic scintillators in order to improve the quality of reconstructed images. By applying plastic scintillators with fast timing characteristic, better resolution of the time-of-flight measurements for annihilation gamma rays. We demonstrated that plastic scintillators showed the better timing resolution in comparison to a conventional inorganic scintillator. We also successfully demonstrated a 3-dimensional position resolution of gamma-ray interaction position by using a technique originally developed for inorganic scintillators. We extended a commercial PET data acquisition system to obtain both the time of flight and the information related to Compton scattering. We demonstrated image reconstruction using this system.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

PETはがんの早期発見等に有用な機能撮像であるが、空間分解能がCTやMRIに及ばない。そのためPETとCTが併用されることもあり、患者の二重被爆が問題となる。本研究で開発した時間分解能を向上したTime-of-flight型のPETによって画質と空間分解能が向上すると、少ない被曝量で質の高い診断画像を得ることができる。実用化すれば患者の身体的な負担が軽減することが期待される。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Position resolution with plastic fibers in development of a Compton-scattering PET prototype (2019)
  • Author(s): T, Nakamori, Y. Seki, M. Kuramoto, S. Gunji, K. Kamada, Y. Shoji, A. Yoshikawa, T. Aoki
  • Journal Title: IEEE Conference record of Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Volume: in press
• [Journal Article] Performance studies towards a TOF-PET sensor using Compton scattering at plastic scintillators (2018)
  • Author(s): Kuramoto et al.
  • Journal Title: Journal of Instrumentation Volume: 13
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Development of TOF-PET using Compton scattering by plastic scintillators (2017)
  • Author(s): Kuramoto et al.
  • Journal Title: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Volume: 845 Pages: 668-672
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2016.06.100
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Position resolution with plastic fibers in development of a Compton-scattering PET prototype (2018)
  • Author(s): Takeshi Nakamori
  • Organizer: IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] プラスチックシンチレータを用いたコンプトン散乱型TOF-PETの開発 (2017)
  • Author(s): 中森健之
  • Organizer: 日本物理学会第72回年次大会
  • Place of Presentation: 大阪大学
  • Year and Date: 2017-03-17
• [Presentation] Performance studies towards a TOF-PET sensor using Compton scattering at plastic scintillators (2017)
  • Author(s): Takeshi Nakamori
  • Organizer: Position Sensitive Detectors 11
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] プラスチックシンチレータを用いたコンプトン散乱型PETセンサの開発 (2017)
  • Author(s): 中森健之
  • Organizer: SMART2017
  • Invited
• [Presentation] コンプトン散乱型PETの散乱体位置分解能の向上 (2017)
  • Author(s): 中森健之
  • Organizer: 生体医歯工学共同研究拠点成果報告会
• [Presentation] プラスチックシンチレータを用いたコンプトン散乱型TOF-PET装置の基礎開発 (2016)
  • Author(s): 倉本南
  • Organizer: 日本物理学会2016年秋季大会
  • Place of Presentation: 宮崎大学
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-21