@inproceedings{OlderogMohrBegingetal.2021, author = {Olderog, M. and Mohr, P. and Beging, Stefan and Tsoumpas, C. and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {Simulation study on the role of tissue-scattered events in improving sensitivity for a compact time of flight compton positron emission tomograph}, series = {2020 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC)}, booktitle = {2020 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC)}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {978-1-7281-7693-2}, doi = {10.1109/NSS/MIC42677.2020.9507901}, pages = {4 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In positron emission tomography improving time, energy and spatial detector resolutions and using Compton kinematics introduces the possibility to reconstruct a radioactivity distribution image from scatter coincidences, thereby enhancing image quality. The number of single scattered coincidences alone is in the same order of magnitude as true coincidences. In this work, a compact Compton camera module based on monolithic scintillation material is investigated as a detector ring module. The detector interactions are simulated with Monte Carlo package GATE. The scattering angle inside the tissue is derived from the energy of the scattered photon, which results in a set of possible scattering trajectories or broken line of response. The Compton kinematics collimation reduces the number of solutions. Additionally, the time of flight information helps localize the position of the annihilation. One of the questions of this investigation is related to how the energy, spatial and temporal resolutions help confine the possible annihilation volume. A comparison of currently technically feasible detector resolutions (under laboratory conditions) demonstrates the influence on this annihilation volume and shows that energy and coincidence time resolution have a significant impact. An enhancement of the latter from 400 ps to 100 ps leads to a smaller annihilation volume of around 50\%, while a change of the energy resolution in the absorber layer from 12\% to 4.5\% results in a reduction of 60\%. The inclusion of single tissue-scattered data has the potential to increase the sensitivity of a scanner by a factor of 2 to 3 times. The concept can be further optimized and extended for multiple scatter coincidences and subsequently validated by a reconstruction algorithm.}, language = {en} } @article{HerzogPietrzykShahetal.2010, author = {Herzog, Hans and Pietrzyk, Uwe and Shah, N. Jon and Ziemons, Karl}, title = {The current state, challenges and perspectives of MR-PET}, series = {Neuroimage}, volume = {49}, journal = {Neuroimage}, number = {3}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {1053-8119}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.10.036}, pages = {2072 -- 2082}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Following the success of PET/CT during the last decade and the recent increasing proliferation of SPECT/CT, another hybrid imaging instrument has been gaining more and more interest: MR-PET. First combined, simultaneous PET and MR studies carried out in small animals demonstrated the feasibility of the new approach. Concurrently, some prototypes of an MR-PET scanner for simultaneous human brain studies have been built, their performance is being tested and preliminary applications have already been shown. Through this pioneering work, it has become clear that advances in the detector design are necessary for further optimization. Recently, the different issues related to the present state and future prospects of MR-PET were presented and discussed during an international 2-day workshop at the Forschungszentrum J{\"u}lich, Germany, held after, and in conjunction with, the 2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference in Dresden, Germany on October 27-28, 2008. The topics ranged from small animal MR-PET imaging to human MR-BrainPET imaging, new detector developments, challenges/opportunities for ultra-high field MR-PET imaging and considerations of possible future research and clinical applications. This report presents a critical summary of the contributions made to the workshop.}, language = {en} } @article{BeerStreunHombachetal.2010, author = {Beer, S. and Streun, M. and Hombach, T. and Buehler, J. 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 = {Design and initial performance of PlanTIS: a high-resolution positron emission tomograph for plants}, series = {Physics in Medicine and Biology}, volume = {55}, journal = {Physics in Medicine and Biology}, number = {3}, publisher = {IOP}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {1361-6560}, doi = {10.1088/0031-9155/55/3/006}, pages = {635 -- 646}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Positron emitters such as 11C, 13N and 18F and their labelled compounds are widely used in clinical diagnosis and animal studies, but can also be used to study metabolic and physiological functions in plants dynamically and in vivo. A very particular tracer molecule is 11CO2 since it can be applied to a leaf as a gas. We have developed a Plant Tomographic Imaging System (PlanTIS), a high-resolution PET scanner for plant studies. Detectors, front-end electronics and data acquisition architecture of the scanner are based on the ClearPET™ system. The detectors consist of LSO and LuYAP crystals in phoswich configuration which are coupled to position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes. Signals are continuously sampled by free running ADCs, and data are stored in a list mode format. The detectors are arranged in a horizontal plane to allow the plants to be measured in the natural upright position. Two groups of four detector modules stand face-to-face and rotate around the field-of-view. This special system geometry requires dedicated image reconstruction and normalization procedures. We present the initial performance of the detector system and first phantom and plant measurements.}, language = {en} }