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.
Positronium Imaging: History, Current Status, and Future Perspectives
Paweł Moskal, Aleksander Bilewicz, Manish Das, Bangyan Huang, Aleksander Khreptak, Szymon Parzych, Jinyi Qi, Axel Rominger, Robert Seifert, Sushil Sharma, Kuangyu Shi, William Steinberger, Rafał Walczak, Ewa Stępień
abstract
Positronium imaging was recently proposed to image the properties of positronium atoms in the patient body. Positronium properties depend on the size of intramolecular voids and oxygen concentration; therefore, they deliver information different and complementary to the anatomic, morphological, and metabolic images. Thus far, the mean ortho-positronium lifetime imaging has been at the center of research interest. The first ex vivo and in vivo positronium lifetime images of humans have been demonstrated with the dedicated J-PET scanner enabling simultaneous registration of annihilation photons and prompt gamma from beta+gamma emitters. Annihilation photons are used to reconstruct the annihilation place and time while prompt gamma is used to reconstruct the time of positronium formation. This review describes recent achievements in the translation of positronium imaging into clinics. The first measurements of positronium lifetime in humans with commercial PET scanners modernized to register triple coincidences are reported. The in vivo observations of differences in ortho-positronium lifetime between tumor and healthy tissues and between different oxygen concentrations are discussed. So far, the positronium lifetime measurements in humans were completed with clinically available 68Ga, 82Rb, and 124I radionuclides. Status and challenges in developing positronium imaging on a way to a clinically useful procedure are presented and discussed.
Exploration of simultaneous dual-isotope imaging with multi-photon modular J-PET scanner
Ermias Yitayew Beyene, Manish Das, Martyna Durak-Kozica, Grzegorz Korcyl, Wiktor Mryka, Szymon Niedźwiecki, Szymon Parzych, Keyvan Tayefi Ardebili, Rafał Walczak, Kamil Wawrowicz, Ewa Stępień, Paweł Moskal
abstract
The modular J-PET scanner, comprising 24 compact and versatile modules, each consisting of 13 plastic strips with four SiPM detectors at the ends, represents a powerful tool for clinical applications in nuclear medical imaging. This study presents preliminary results from the exploration of simultaneous dual-isotope imaging using the modular J-PET system. Our approach involved two isotopes: 68Ge, characterized by a ringlike shape, and 22Na, exhibiting a point-like shape. The imaging was based on double-coincidence and triple-coincidence events. In the double coincidence case, both isotopes contributed comparably, whereas in the triple coincidence case 22Na dominated due to the prompt gamma being emitted with 100% of positron emissions, unlike 68Ga, where the prompt gamma was emitted in only 1.3% of cases after positron emission. In this work we present direct 2? images determined for two-signal events and images for three-signal events, with two signals from annihilation photons and one from a prompt gamma. These results showcase the preliminary findings from simultaneous dual-isotope imaging of 68Ga and 22Na isotopes using the modular J-PET scanner, which will be presented and discussed.
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
