Faculty of Physics, Astronomy
and Applied Computer Science

Article New twist on PET scans unlocks hidden signals for diagnosing disease in Science highlights our pioneering research on Positronium Imaging

The ceremony was held in the Aula of Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University.

Niedawne otwarcie Konsulatu Indii w Krakowie było okazją do wizyty Honorowej Konsul Generalnej Republiki Indii pani Aleksandry Głód-Ahmed w Szkole Doktorskiej Nauk Ścisłych i Przyrodniczych UJ. W ramach wizyty prof. dr hab. Paweł Moskal i prof. dr hab. Ewa Stępień gościli panią konsul w laboratorium tomografu J-PET.

Relacja z wizyty na stronach Szkoły Doktorskiej Nauk Ścisłych i Przyrodniczych.

Report from the visit of Honorary Consul General of the Republic of India, Ms. Aleksandra Głód-Ahmed, in the J-PET laboratories.

Uniwersytet w Delhi (DU) jest jedną z najbardziej docenianych instytucji szkolnictwa wyższego w Indiach. Ma również jedną z najwyższych pozycji akademickich wśród indyjskich uniwersytetów. W sumie na DU studiuje ponad 330 000 studentów w ramach edukacji formalnej i nieformalnej. Uniwersytet składa się z 86 wydziałów akademickich i 91 szkół wyższych rozsianych po całym mieście.
Profesor Neera Agnimitra odwiedziła Wydział Fizyki Medycznej i Laboratoria J-PET 19 listopada 2024 r. Profesor Agnimitra jest przewodniczącą ds. stosunków międzynarodowych Uniwersytetu w Delhi i jej rolą jest wzmacnianie naszej współpracy. Obecnie w Zakładzie Fizyki Medycznej pracuje jedna doktorantka z Indii, pani Kriti Awasthi, oraz w Zakładzie Doświadczalnej Fizyki Cząstek i Zastosowań kierowanym przez prof. Pawła Moskala pracuje 7 doktorantów, jeden stażysta i jeden adiunkt, dr Sushil Sharma.

W audycji Eureka w PR1 odbyła się rozmowa z prof. Ewą Stępień oraz prof. Pawłem Moskalem pt. Obrazowanie nowotworów głowy. Wyjątkowy tomograf Jagielloński PET.

Fragmentu programu z ww. rozmową można wysłuchać tutaj.

The 37th Annual Congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine EANM took place in Hamburg, October 19-23, 2024, aiming at the exchange and discussion of the latest theranostic advances, the most impactful clinical evidence, the most recently developed radiopharmaceuticals, and the most novel imaging and detection technologies. Two J-PET Collaboration members: prof. Paweł Moskal and mgr Szymon Parzych presented new advancements in novel positronium lifetime imaging with PET, first-ever in-vivo positronium lifetime images of humans and metabolic images with J-PET scanner.

On the 5th and 6th of October 2024, the first Total-Body J-PET General Meeting was organised by the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy, and Applied Computer Science at Jagiellonian University, Kraków. The meeting brought together collaborators from various prestigious institutions, including:

• Cracow University Hospital,
• National Laboratory of Frascati, Italy,
• AGH University of Science and Technology,
• Cyclotron Centre Bronowice,
• Cracow University of Technology,
• Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw,
• Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin,
• Heavy Ion Laboratory, University of Warsaw.

The event began with an informal gathering on the evening of 5th October in the heart of Kraków, where participants discussed the present and future of J-PET research while enjoying delicious Indian cuisine.

On 6th October, the formal meeting commenced with an opening speech by the Dean of our department, Prof. Dr hab. Zbigniew Postawa, followed by opening statements from the collaborating institutions. The day proceeded with presentations from our esteemed collaborators and colleagues, showcasing the latest developments in Total-Body J-PET hardware and software, as well as exciting research projects.

Every participant, including PhD students, presented their work, which led to fruitful discussions and fostered collaboration across different research groups. The event highlighted the significant progress being made in J-PET technology and its potential future applications.

Details of the event.

Professor Paweł Moskal won the award for the best presentation at the Total-Body PET 2024 - TBPET2024 conference, awarded by the European Societies for Molecular Imaging (ESMI).
His presentation titled Constructing total-body JPET: 250 cm long multi-photon PET from plastic scintillators was devoted to the project of building a whole-body PET tomograph from plastic scintillators. The prototype of this device was first used for clinical imaging at the University Hospital in Krakow and at the University Medical Center of the Medical University of Warsaw.
The conference took place in Groningen at the FORUM cultural center between September 19 and 21. More than 220 scientists and clinicians from around the world took part in it, including research groups cooperating with the only manufacturers of long-axis field imaging (LAFOV) PET tomographs: United Imaging and Siemens Healthineers and GE HealthCare.
Professor Paweł Moskal presented to participants the vision of making molecular imaging technology available also in low- and middle-income countries, not only by producing economical PET tomographs made of plastic, but also by producing more accessible radionuclides for imaging (scandium-44 isotope).

J-PET members presented their research at the EXA/LEAP 2024 conference in Vienna, where Neha Chug won the best poster award on the CPT symmetry test with J-PET.

The ceremony was held in the Aula of Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University.

At the 19th European Molecular Imaging Meeting (EMIM 2024), which took place in Alfandega Congress Centre in Porto, Portugal, Manish Das was awarded for the best poster in the PET, SPECT & Hybrid Technologies category. The winning poster was titled "Developing Positronium Imaging Technique for the Liver Phantom Using Modular J-PET".

Faranak Tayefi Ardebili defended PhD thesis entitled: Evaluation of the NEMA characteristics for the Modular J-PET scanner at 29.01.2024 under the supervision of Professor Pawel Moskal and Auxiliary supervised by Dr Szymon Niedźwiecki.

Shivani defended PhD thesis entitled: Evaluation of Positron Emission Mammography using plastic scintillators and wavelength shifters at 2023.11.17 under the supervision of Prof. Pawel Moskal and dr hab. Elżbieta Łuczyńska.

Monika Pawlik-Niedźwiecka defended PhD thesis entitled: Determination of performance characteristics of the J-PET tomograph at 2023.11.03 under the supervision of Prof. Paweł Moskal and Dr. Michał Silarski.

III Kongres Młodej Nauki held at the University of Gdańsk brought together young researchers from Poland and Europe to present their scientific work through paper presentations and posters. The multidisciplinary conference showcased around 200 papers. The event emphasized international collaboration, with the participation of Ukraine's Odessa National University. Plenary sessions covered challenges and opportunities in scientific careers, financing, and administrative solutions. Special panels on topics like Ukraine-Poland relations were included. During the Young Science Congress at the University of Gdańsk, Simbarashe Moyo successfully presented his findings on Positronium measurements of blood clots. This study explored the application of PALS in differentiating blood clots. The results showcased the potential use of PALS as a biomarker in cardiac masses assessment during PET examination.

On June 15th, the CT (Computed Tomography) machine was delivered to the Center for Theranostics, Kopernika 40. It marks the arrival of the first component for the total-body J-PET, a significant milestone in the center's development. Below please find some photos from the departure of the equipment from Türkiye and its arrival to Kraków.

Opening Ceremony of the Center for Theranostics took place on 5th June 2023 in the Theranostics Center building in Kopernika 40 Street in Kraków. Prof. Paweł Moskal and Prof. Ewa Stępień gave the lectures on the history of the place and planned projects. The ceremony was attended, among others, by Prof. Włodzimierz Bernacki, the vice Minister of Education and Science, and Prof. Piotr Kuśtrowski, the vice Rector of the Jagiellonian University. More informations can be found in https://qlife.cm-uj.krakow.pl/aktualnosci/uroczyste-otwarcie-centrum-teranostyki-uj

Szymon Parzych got distinction for the best talk during conference XVI Rzeszowska Konferencja Młodych Fizyków organized at University of Rzeszów.

Workshop at LNF-INFN, Frascati was organized to exchange experience and expertise gained by various institutions in the fields of radiation detection techniques developed for fundamental physics, food control, medical diagnostics and biology. The J-PET members participated and presented their work.

On April 21, in Warsaw, we had a meeting together with scientists from National Centre for Nuclear Research with whom we cooperate. The topic of the meeting was image reconstruction focused on 3 gamma and positronium reconstruction. Researchers from Warsaw presented the progress of their studies. Researchers from Jagiellonian University also presented progress and future plans for research development.

Professor Ewa Ł. Stępień, prof. Paweł Moskal, dr Szymon Niedźwiecki and dr Magdalena Marzec, the representatives of the Department of Experimental Particle Physics and Applications and the Department of Medical Physics, building the Theranostics Center, had the pleasure of visiting between March 27 to April 1, 2023 the laboratories of iThemba LABS at the invitation of the directors and Dr. Faical Azaiez and Dr. Rudolph Nchodu and the head of the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory, Dr. Randal Fisher. iThemba LABS near Cape Town (South Africa) is a group of acceleration laboratories (Laboratories for Accelerator Based Science _ iTlemba LABS https://tlabs.ac.za/), where particle accelerators (linear and cyclotrons) are used as research tools to study the structure and properties of matter and for the production of medical radioisotopes used in diagnostics, imaging and therapy. During the 5-day visit, seminars were delivered combined with familiarization with the accelerators located at iThemba LABS, including 200-MeV Separated Sector Cyclotron (SSC) powered by two fixed-pole cyclotrons to pre-accelerate the beam. In 2023, the flagship iThemba South African Isotope Facility (SAIF) project was launched, the aim of which is to increase the availability of beams for research and to develop new research areas on new and innovative solutions in the field of cancer treatment and early diagnosis. In this field, both iThemba LABS and the Center for Theranostics want to establish long-term cooperation, under which new radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals will be created, but also the use of innovative techniques for imaging and diagnostics of early stages of cancer.

The EMIM addresses the latest developments in morphological, functional and molecular imaging at all scales, including mass spectroscopy, microscopy, and noninvasive imaging in preclinical and exploratory clinical studies. This also includes new strategies for image-guided therapies and theranostics. The J-PET members participated and presented their work.

On 26th of February we had a pleasure of visiting colleagues from Inselspital Bern: Lorenzo Mercolli, Hasan Sari, Kuangyu Shi, Axel Rominger. In collaboration with Will Steinberger from Siemens and Lorenzo Mercolli from Inselspital we performed experiments with modified NEMA phantom in view of ortho-positronium lifetime measurements with 68Ga isotope. During the visit prof. Paweł Moskal and prof. Ewa Stępień delivered a talk about positronium imaging and biomarkers development.

On 23 February, we visited Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Centre of Radio-chemistry and Nuclear Chemistry, Warsaw. It was participated by 5 members of our group: prof. Paweł Moskal, Manish Das, Ermias Yitayew Beyene, Wiktor Mryka and Agata Jędruszczak. During this visit, an experiment was conducted to separate the 44Sc from the target material (CaCO3) using a separation system created by Dr Rafał Walczak in the Institute.

The ceremony was held in the Aula of Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University.

Meysam Dadgar defended PhD thesis entitled: Feasibility study of lesion detection by means of Total-Body Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomography scanner at 2022.12.21 under the supervision of Professor Pawel Moskal.

J-PET (Jagiellonian-PET TOMOGRAPHY) group had the honor to host a delegation from iThemba LABS (Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences) Republic of South Africa, from 28-30 November 2022. Full IThemba Labs UJ Visit Report by Simbarashe Moyo you can read here.

Prof. Piotr Słomka from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles our distinguished guest and keynote speaker at the Jagiellonian Symposium gave an interview to Radio Kraków about Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

Prof. Ewa Stępień during Jagiellonian Symposium gave an interview to Radio Kraków about the development of novel biomarkers.

Poster Award Committee Prof. Catalina Curceanu and Prof. Ihor Kadenko announced that there were two 1st prices ex aequo for:

• Monika Szczepanek from Jagiellonian University, Poland: "Determination of 10B concentration in melanocytes and melanoma cells";
• Deepak Kumar from Jagiellonian University, Poland: "Measurement of correlation between polarization of annihilation photons emitted in e+e- system to detect entanglement at subMeV range".

Congratulations!