First Positronium Imaging Using 44Sc With the J-PET Scanner: a Case Study on the NEMA-Image Quality Phantom
Manish Das, Sushil Sharma, Ermias Yitayew Beyene, Aleksander Bilewicz, Jarosław Choiński, Neha Chug, Catalina Curceanu, Eryk Czerwiński, Kavya Valsan Eliyan, Jakub Hajduga, Sharareh Jalali, Krzysztof Kacprzak, Tevfik Kaplanoglu, Łukasz Kapłon, Kamila Kasperska, Aleksander Khreptak, Grzegorz Korcyl, Tomasz Kozik, Karol Kubat, Deepak Kumar, Anoop Kunimmal Venadan, Edward Lisowski, Filip Lisowski, Justyna Medrala Sowa, Simbarashe Moyo, Wiktor Mryka, Szymon Niedźwiecki, Piyush Pandey, Szymon Parzych, Alessio Porcelli, Bartłomiej Rachwał, Elena Perez del Rio, Martin Rädler, Axel Rominger, Kuangyu Shi, Magdalena Skurzok, Anna Stolarz, Tomasz Szumlak, Pooja Tanty, Keyvan Tayefi Ardebili, Satyam Tiwari, Rafał Walczak, Ewa Ł. Stępień, Paweł Moskal
abstract
Positronium Lifetime Imaging (PLI), an emerging extension of conventional positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, offers a novel window for probing the submolecular properties of biological tissues by imaging the mean lifetime of the positronium atom. Currently, the method is under rapid development in terms of reconstruction and detection systems. Recently, the first in vivo PLI of the human brain was performed using the J-PET scanner utilizing the 68Ga isotope. However, this isotope has limitations due to its comparatively low prompt gamma yields, which is crucial for positronium lifetime measurement. Among alternative radionuclides, 44Sc stands out as a promising isotope for PLI, characterized by a clinically suitable half-life (4.04 hours) emitting 1157 keV prompt gamma in 100% cases after the emission of the positron. This study reports the first experimental demonstration of PLI with 44Sc, carried out on a NEMA-Image Quality (IQ) phantom using the Modular J-PET tomograph?the first plastic scintillators-based PET scanner.
Quality control of plastic scintillators for the total-body J-PET scanner
Ł. Kapłon, E. Beyene, N. Chug, C. Curceanu, E. Czerwiński, M. Das, K. Eliyan, K. Kacprzak, T. Kaplanoglu, G. Korcyl, K. Kubat, D. Kumar, E. Lisowski, F. Lisowski, J. Mędrala-Sowa, G. Moskal, W. Mryka, S. Niedźwiecki, P. Pandey, S. Parzych, E. Pérez del Rio, S. Sharma, M. Skurzok, P. Tanty, K. Tayefi, A. Venadan, E. Stępień and P. Moskal
abstract
The construction of the total-body Jagiellonian positron emission tomography scanner requires component verification before detector assembly. The purpose of this research is to verify the quality of BC-408 plastic scintillators with dimensions 6 mm × 30 mm × 330 mm. The scintillators were inspected for optical and mechanical defects and all dimensions were measured. Scratches, mechanically damaged corners and edges, as well as encapsulated dust and fibers within the scintillators, were identified under ceiling lamp illumination. Line defects on the as-cast surfaces were easily visible in a plane polariscope setup consisting of crossed horizontal and vertical polarizer foils. The transmittance at the wavelength of maximum emission through 6 mm thick scintillator samples and the technical attenuation length along 330 mm long scintillator samples were measured on a linear CCD array spectrometer for randomly selected scintillators from each delivered batch. Selected properties of the emission spectra, such as their FWHM and the values of the emission maxima as a function of the distance between the excitation point and the spectrometer fiber, were measured. Additionally, the scintillators optical homogeneity was measured on a light transfer setup consisting of an LED and photodiode matrix. The majority of the obtained plastic scintillators meets the transparency criteria and falls within the dimensional tolerances.
muPPET: Investigating the Muon Puzzle with J-PET Detectors
A. Porcelli, K. Valsan Eliyan, G. Moskal, N. Nasrin Protiti, D. L. Sirghi, E. Yitayew Beyene, N. Chug, C. Curceanu, E. Czerwiński, M. Das, M. Gorgol, J. Hajduga, S. Jalali, B. Jasińska, K. Kacprzak, T. Kaplanoglu, Ł. Kapłon, K. Kasperska, A. Khreptak, G. Korcyl, T. Kozik, D. Kumar, K. Kubat, E. Lisowski, F. Lisowski, J. Mędrala-Sowa, W. Mryka, S. Moyo, S. Niedźwiecki, S. Parzych, P. Pandey, E. Perez del Rio, B. Rachwał, M. Rädler, S. Sharma, M. Skurzok, E. Ł. Stępień, T. Szumlak, P. Tanty, K. Tayefi Ardebili, S. Tiwari, and P. Moskal
abstract
The muPPET [muon Probe with J-PET] project aims to investigate the Muon
Puzzle seen in cosmic ray air showers. This puzzle arises from the observation of a significantly
larger number of muons on Earth's surface than that predicted by the current
theoretical models. The investigated hypothesis is based on recently observed asymmetries
in the parameters for the strong interaction cross-section and trajectory of an outgoing particle
due to projectile-target polarization. The measurements require detailed information
about muons at the ground level, including their track and charge distributions. To achieve
this, the two PET scanners developed at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland),
the J-PET detectors, will be employed, taking advantage of their well-known resolution
and convenient location for detecting muons that reach long depths in the atmosphere.
One station will be used as a muon tracker, while the second will reconstruct the core of
the air shower. In parallel, the existing hadronic interaction models will be modified and
fine-tuned based on the experimental results. In this work, we present the conceptualization
and preliminary designs of muPPET.
Real-time antiproton annihilation vertexing with submicrometer resolution
Michael Berghold, Davide Orsucci, Francesco Guatieri, Sara Alfaro, Marcis Auzins, Benedikt Bergmann, Petr Burian, Roberto Sennen Brusa, Antoine Camper, Ruggero Caravita, Fabrizio Castelli, Giovanni Cerchiari, Roman Jerzy Ciuryło, Ahmad Chehaimi, Giovanni Consolati, Michael Doser, Kamil Eliaszuk, Riley Craig Ferguson, Matthias Germann, Anna Giszczak, Lisa Glöggler, Łukasz Graczykowski, Malgorzata Grosbart, Natali Gusakova, Fredrik Gustafsson, Stefan Haider, Saiva Huck, Christoph Hugenschmidt, Malgorzata Anna Janik, Tymoteusz Henryk Januszek, Grzegorz Kasprowicz, Kamila Kempny, Ghanshyambhai Khatri, Łukasz Kłosowski, Georgy Kornakov, Valts Krumins, Lidia Lappo, Adam Linek, Sebastiano Mariazzi, Pawel Moskal, Dorota Nowicka, Piyush Pandey, Daniel PĘcak, Luca Penasa, Vojtech Petracek, Mariusz Piwiński, Stanislav Pospisil, Luca Povolo, Francesco Prelz, Sadiqali Rangwala, Tassilo Rauschendorfer, Bharat Rawat, Benjamin Rienäcker, Volodymyr Rodin, Ole Rohne, Heidi Sandaker, Sushil Sharma, Petr Smolyanskiy, Tomasz Sowiński, Dariusz Tefelski, Theodoros Vafeiadis, Marco Volponi, Carsten Peter Welsch, Michal Zawada, Jakub Zielinski, Nicola Zurlo, AEgIS Collaboration
abstract
Primary goal of the AEgIS experiment is to precisely measure the free fall of antihydrogen within Earth's gravitational field. To this end, cold(equivalent to 50 K) antihydrogen will traverse a two-grid moiré deflectometer before annihilating onto a position-sensitive detector, which shall determine the vertical position of the annihilation vertex relative to the grids with micrometric accuracy. Here, we introduce a vertexing detector based on a modified mobile camera sensor and experimentally demonstrate that it can measure the position of antiproton annihilations within 0.62(+0.40)(-0.22) micrometer, a 35-fold improvement over the previous state of the art for real-time antiproton vertexing. These methods are directly applicable to antihydrogen. Moreover, the sensitivity to light of the sensor enables in situ calibration of the moiré deflectometer, substantially reducing systematic errors. This sensor emerges as a breakthrough technology toward the AEgIS scientific goals and will constitute the basis for the development of a large-area detector for conducting antihydrogen gravity measurements.
Development of correction techniques for a J-PET scanner
M. Das, R. Bayerlein, S. Sharma, S. Parzych, S. Niedźwiecki, R. Badawi, E. Yitayew Beyene, N. Chug, C. Curceanu, E. Czerwiński, K. Valsan Eliyan, B. Głowa, A. Hubalewska-Dydejczyk, K. Kacprzak, T. Kaplanoglu, K. Kasperska, G. Korcyl, A. Khreptak, K. Kubat, D. Kumar, E. Lisowski, F. Lisowski, J. Mędrala-Sowa, S. Moyo, W. Mryka, M. Opalińska, P. Pandey, M. Rädler, M. Skurzok, A. Sowa-Staszczak, B. A. Spencer, P. Tanty, K. Tayefi Ardebili, A. Kunimmal Venadan, E. Stępień, P. Moskal
abstract
Objective: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a widely used medical imaging technique that allows for non-invasive imaging of metabolic processes. However, traditional PET scanners rely on costly inorganic scintillators, which limit their accessibility ? especially in light of emerging long axial field-of-view devices. The modular J-PET scanner, an innovative alternative, uses 50-cm long plastic scintillator strips, offering a cost-effective and modular solution. In this study, we develop and assess the PET data correction techniques required for quantitative image reconstruction. Methods: We present methods for attenuation correction, random coincidence correction using the Delayed Time Window (DTW) technique, and scatter correction based on Monte Carlo simulations. Phantom studies using the NEMA IQ phantom were performed to qualitatively evaluate these corrections. Results: The results demonstrate that our implemented corrections for attenuation, randoms, and scattered coincidences successfully improve the uniformity of tracer distribution in homogenous volumes and significantly reduce undesired activity in cold regions. Despite limitations in sensitivity and axial resolution, the applied correction techniques effectively enhance image quality, providing promising results for future applications. Conclusions: These findings highlight the potential of the modular J-PET system to offer affordable PET imaging and to pave the way towards a total-body PET scanner based on plastic scintillators. Future work will focus on quantitative validation and the implementation of these corrections for human subject imaging.
The AEgIS Experiment: Progress and Future Outlook
R. Caravita, S. Alfaro Campos, M. Auzins, M. Berghold, B. Bergmann, P. Burian, R.S. Brusa, A. Camper, F. Castelli, G. Cerchiari, R. Ciurylo, A. Chehaimi, G. Consolati, M. Doser, K. Eliaszuk, R. Ferguson, M. Germann, A. Giszczak, L.T. Glöggler, L. Graczykowski, M. Grosbart, F. Guatieri, N. Gusakova, F.P. Gustafsson, S. Haider, S. Huck, C. Hugenschmidt, M. Janik, T. Januszek, G. Kasprowicz, K. Kempny, G. Khatri, L. Klosowski, G. Kornakov, V. Krumins, L. Lappo, A. Linek, S. Mariazzi, P. Moskal, M. Münster, P. Pandey, D. Pecak, L. Penasa, V. Petracek, M. Piwinski, S. Pospišil, F. Prelz, S.A. Rangwala, T. Rauschendorfer, B.S. Rawat, B. Rienacker, V. Rodin, O. Rohne, H. Sandaker, S. Sharma, P. Smolyanskiy, T. Sowiński, D. Tefelski, M. Volponi, C.P. Welsch, M. Zawada, J. Zielinski, N. Zurlo on behalf of the AEgIS Collaboration
published in: PoS EXA-LEAP2024, 024 (2024)
The AEgIS experiment at CERN is pioneering measurements of gravity, spectroscopy, and interferometry using pulsed antimatter atomic sources. This work provides an overview of the AEgIS experimental setup and highlights recent advancements in antihydrogen production, positronium laser cooling, and the creation of antiprotonic atoms. Key technological developments, including the overhaul of the control system and its impact on precision experiments, are reviewed. Future perspectives for AEgIS before CERN Long Shutdown 3 and beyond are summarized.
Simulation studies of a brain PET insert for the total body J-PET tomograph
Simulation studies of a brain PET insert for the total body J-PET tomograph M. Rädler, E. Y. Beyene, A. Bilewicz, J. Choiński, N. Chug, C. Curceanu, E. Czerwiński, M. Das, J. Hajduga, S. Jalali, T. Kaplanoglu, Ł. Kapłon, A. Khreptak, G. Korcyl, K. Kubat, D. Kumar, A. Kunimmal Venadan, E. Lisowski, F. Lisowski, J. Mędrala-Sowa, S. Moyo, W. Mryka, S. Niedźwiecki, P. Pandey, S. Parzych, A. Porcelli, B. Rachwał, E. P. d. Río, S. Sharma, M. Skurzok, A. Stolarz, T. Szumlak, S. Tiwari, P. Tanty, K. Tayefi Ardebili, K. Valsan Eliyan, R. Walczak, E. Ł. Stępień, P. Moskal
IEEE NSS MIC RTSD in Yokohama
Determination of annihilation vertex of antihydrogen using modular J-PET detector
P. Pandey, S. Sharma, P. Moskal, on behalf of the AEgIS collaboration and, A. K. Venadan, G. Korcyl, K. Kacprzak
2nd Symposium on new trends in nuclear and medical physics
