@article{StreunBeerHombachetal.2008, author = {Streun, M. and Beer, S. and Hombach, T. and Jahnke, S. and Khodaverdi, M. and Larue, H. and Minwuyelet, S. and Parl, C. and Roeb, G. and Schurr, U. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {PlanTIS: A positron emission tomograph for imaging 11C transport in plants}, series = {2007 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 6}, journal = {2007 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 6}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {4110 -- 4112}, year = {2008}, abstract = {Plant growth and transport processes are highly dynamic. They are characterized by plant-internal control processes and by strong interactions with the spatially and temporally varying environment. Analysis of structure- function relations of growth and transport in plants will strongly benefit from the development of non-invasive techniques. PlanTIS (Plant Tomographic Imaging System) is designed for non-destructive 3D-imaging of positron emitting radiotracers. It will permit functional analysis of the dynamics of carbon distribution in plants including bulky organs. It will be applicable for screening transport properties of plants to evaluate e.g. temperature adaptation of genetically modified plants. PlanTIS is a PET scanner dedicated to monitor the dynamics of the 11C distribution within a plant while or after assimilation of 11CO2. Front end electronics and data acquisition architecture of the scanner are based on the ClearPETTM system [1]. Four detector modules form one of two opposing detector blocks. Optionally, a hardware coincidence detection between the blocks can be applied. In general the scan duration is rather long (~ 1 hour) compared to the decay time of 11C (20 min). As a result the count rates can vary over a wide range and accurate dead time correction is necessary.}, language = {en} } @article{ZiemonsBruyndonckxPerezetal.2008, author = {Ziemons, Karl and Bruyndonckx, P. and Perez, J. M. and Pietrzyk, U. and Rato, P. and Tavernier, S.}, title = {Beyond ClearPET: Next Aims}, series = {5th IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro Symposium Proceedings ISBI 2008}, journal = {5th IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro Symposium Proceedings ISBI 2008}, isbn = {978-1-4244-2003-2}, pages = {1421 -- 1424}, year = {2008}, abstract = {The CRYSTAL CLEAR collaboration, in short CCC, is a consortium of 12 academic institutions, mainly from Europe, joining efforts in the area of developing instrumentation for nuclear medicine and medical imaging. In the framework of the CCC a high performance small animal PET system, called ClearPET, was developed by using new technologies in electronics and crystals in a phoswich arrangement combining two types of lutetium- based scintillator materials: LSO:Ce and LuYAP:Ce. Our next aim will be the development of hybrid image systems. Hybrid MR-PET imaging has many unique advantages for brain research. This has sparked a new research line within CCC for the development of novel MR-PET compatible technologies. MRI is not as sensitive as PET but PET has poorer spatial resolution than MRI. Two major advantages of PET are sensitivity and its ability to acquire metabolic information. To assess these innovations, the development of a 9.4T hybrid animal MR-PET scanner is proposed based on an existing 9.4T MR scanner that will be adapted to enable simultaneous acquisition of MR and PET data using cutting- edge technology for both MR and PET.}, language = {en} } @article{JahnkeMenzelDusschotenetal.2009, author = {Jahnke, Siegfried and Menzel, Marion I. and Dusschoten, Dagmar van and Roeb, Gerhard W. and B{\"u}hler, Jonas and Minwuyelet, Senay and Bl{\"u}mler, Peter and Temperton, Vicky M. and Hombach, Thomas and Streun, Matthias and Beer, Simone and Khodaverdi, Maryam and Ziemons, Karl and Coenen, Heinz H. and Schurr, Ulrich}, title = {Combined MRI-PET dissects dynamic changes in plant structures and functions}, series = {The Plant Journal}, volume = {59}, journal = {The Plant Journal}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Weinheim}, isbn = {1365-313X}, pages = {634 -- 644}, year = {2009}, abstract = {Unravelling the factors determining the allocation of carbon to various plant organs is one of the great challenges of modern plant biology. Studying allocation under close to natural conditions requires non-invasive methods, which are now becoming available for measuring plants on a par with those developed for humans. By combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), we investigated three contrasting root/shoot systems growing in sand or soil, with respect to their structures, transport routes and the translocation dynamics of recently fixed photoassimilates labelled with the short-lived radioactive carbon isotope 11C. Storage organs of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) and radish plants (Raphanus sativus) were assessed using MRI, providing images of the internal structures of the organs with high spatial resolution, and while species-specific transport sectoralities, properties of assimilate allocation and unloading characteristics were measured using PET. Growth and carbon allocation within complex root systems were monitored in maize plants (Zea mays), and the results may be used to identify factors affecting root growth in natural substrates or in competition with roots of other plants. MRI-PET co-registration opens the door for non-invasive analysis of plant structures and transport processes that may change in response to genomic, developmental or environmental challenges. It is our aim to make the methods applicable for quantitative analyses of plant traits in phenotyping as well as in understanding the dynamics of key processes that are essential to plant performance.}, language = {en} } @article{WedrowskiBruyndonckxTavernieretal.2009, author = {Wedrowski, M. and Bruyndonckx, P. and Tavernier, S. and Zhi, L. and Dang, J. and Mendes, P. R. and Perez, J. M. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Robustness of neural networks algorithm for gamma detection in monolithic block detector, positron emission tomography}, series = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, journal = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {2625 -- 2628}, year = {2009}, abstract = {The monolithic scintillator block approach for gamma detection in the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) avoids estimating Depth of Interaction (DOI), reduces dead zones in detector and diminishes costs of detector production. Neural Networks (NN) are very efficient to determine the entrance point of a gamma incident on a scintillator block. This paper presents results on the robustness of the spatial resolution as a function of the random fraction in the data, temperature and HV fluctuations. This is important when implementing the method in a real scanner. Measurements were done with two Hamamatsu S8550 APD arrays, glued on a 20 {\~A}— 20 {\~A}— 10 mm3 monolithic LSO crystal block.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunLarueParletal.2009, author = {Streun, M. and Larue, H. and Parl, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {A compact PET detector readout using charge-to-time conversion}, series = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, journal = {2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {New York}, isbn = {1082-3654}, pages = {1868 -- 1870}, year = {2009}, abstract = {The readout of gamma detectors is considerably simplified when the event intensity is encoded as a pulse width (Pulse Width Modulation, PWM). Time-to-Digital-Converters (TDC) replace the conventional ADCs and multiple TDCs can be realized easily in one PLD chip (Programmable Logic Device). The output of a PWM stage is only one digital signal per channel which is well suited for transport so that further processing can be performed apart from the detector. This is particularly interesting for large systems with high channel density (e.g. high resolution scanners). In this work we present a circuit with a linear transfer function that requires a minimum of components by performing the PWM already in the preamp stage. This allows a very compact and also cost-efficient implementation of the front-end electronics.}, language = {en} } @article{ParlLarueStreunetal.2011, author = {Parl, C. and Larue, H. and Streun, M. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Double-side-readout technique for SiPM-matrices}, series = {2010 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, journal = {2010 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {New York}, issn = {1095-7863}, pages = {1486 -- 1487}, year = {2011}, abstract = {In our case the double-side-method is used to minimize the complexity of a matrix-readout. Here the number of channels is reduced to 2√N̅. It is also possible to benefit from the method in a single pixel readout system. One signal can be used to measure position and energy of the event, the other one can be applied to a fast trigger-circuit at the same time. In a next step we will investigate timing behavior and electrical crosstalk of the circuit.}, language = {en} } @article{KhodaverdiPaulySchroderetal.2002, author = {Khodaverdi, M. and Pauly, F. and Schroder, G. and Ziemons, Karl and Sievering, R. and Halling, H.}, title = {Preliminary studies of a micro-CT for a combined small animal PET/CT scanner}, series = {2001 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, journal = {2001 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {1605 -- 1606}, year = {2002}, abstract = {We are developing an X-ray computed tomography (CT) system which will be combined with a high resolution animal PET system. This permits acquisition of both molecular and anatomical images in a single machine. In particular the CT will also be utilized for the quantification of the animal PET data by providing accurate data for attenuation correction. A first prototype has been built using a commercially available plane silicon diode detector. A cone-beam reconstruction provides the images using the Feldkamp algorithm. First measurements with this system have been performed on a mouse. It could be shown that the CT setup fulfils all demands for a high quality image of the skeleton of the mouse. It is also suited for soft tissue measurements. To improve contrast and resolution and to acquire the X-ray energy further development of the system, especially the use of semiconductor detectors and iterative reconstruction algorithms are planned.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2002, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {A PET system based on data processing of free-running sampled pulses}, series = {2001 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2}, journal = {2001 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 2}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {693 -- 694}, year = {2002}, abstract = {Within the developments for the Crystal Clear small animal PET project (CLEARPET) a dual head PET system has been established. The basic principle is the early digitization of the detector pulses by free running ADCs. The determination of the γ-energy and also the coincidence detection is performed by data processing of the sampled pulses on the host computer. Therefore a time mark is attached to each pulse identifying the current cycle of the 40 MHz sampling clock. In order to refine the time resolution the pulse starting time is interpolated from the samples of the pulse rise. The detector heads consist of multichannel PMTs with a single LSO scintillator crystal coupled to each channel. For each PMT only one ADC is required. The position of an event is obtained separately from trigger signals generated for each single channel. An FPGA is utilized for pulse buffering, generation of the time mark and for the data transfer to the host via a fast I/O-interface.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinrichsPietrzykZiemons2003, author = {Heinrichs, U. and Pietrzyk, U. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Design optimization of the PMT-ClearPET prototypes based on simulation studies with GEANT3}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, volume = {50}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science}, number = {5}, isbn = {0018-9499}, pages = {1428 -- 1432}, year = {2003}, abstract = {Within the Crystal Clear Collaboration (CCC), four centers are developing second generation high performance small animal positron emission tomography (PET) scanners for different kinds of animals and medical applications. The first prototypes are photomultiplier tube (PMT)-based systems including depth of interaction (DOI) detection by using a phoswich layer of lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) and lutetium yttrium aluminum perovskite (LuYAP). The aim of these simulation studies is to optimize sensitivity and spatial resolution of given designs, which vary in fields of view (FOVs) caused by different detector configurations (ring/octagon) and sizes. For this purpose the simulation tool GEANT3 (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland) was used.}, language = {en} } @article{StreunBrandenburgLarueetal.2003, author = {Streun, M. and Brandenburg, G. and Larue, H. and Saleh, H. and Zimmermann, E. and Ziemons, Karl and Halling, H.}, title = {Pulse shape discrimination of LSO and LuYAP scintillators for depth of interaction detection in PET}, series = {2002 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, journal = {2002 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Vol. 3}, issn = {1082-3654}, pages = {1636 -- 1639}, year = {2003}, abstract = {A feasible way to gain the depth of interaction information in a PET scanner is the use of phoswich detectors. In general the layer of interaction is identified front the pulse shape of the corresponding scintillator material. In this work pulses from LSO and LuYAP crystals were investigated in order to find a practical method of distinguishing. It turned out that such a pulse processing could he kept simple due to an additional slow component in the light decay of the LuYAP pulse. At the same time the short decay time guarantees that the major amount of the light output is still collected within a short pulse recording time.}, language = {en} }