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.
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.
Comparison of cell casted and 3D-printed plastic scintillators for dosimetry applications
D. Kulig, Ł. Kapłon, G. Moskal, S. Beddar, T. Fiutowski, W. Górska, J. Hajduga, P. Jurgielewicz, D. Kabat, K. Kalecińska, M. Kopeć, S. Koperny, B. Mindur, J. Moroń, S. Niedźwiecki, M. Silarski, F. Sobczuk, T. Szumlak, A. Ruciński

abstract
Currently, the most used methods of plastic scintillator (PS) manufacturing are cell casting and bulk polymerisation, extrusion, injection molding, whereas digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing technique has been recently introduced. For our research, we measured blue-emitting EJ-200, EJ-208, green-emitting EJ-260, EJ-262 cell cast and two types of blue-emitting DLP-printed PSs. The light output of the samples, with the same dimension of 10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm, was compared. The light output of the samples, relative to the reference EJ-200 cell-cast scintillator, equals about 40?49 and 70?73% for two types of 3D-printed, and two green-emitting cell-casted PSs, respectively. Performance of the investigated scintillators is sufficient to use them in a plastic scintillation dosemeter operating in high fluence gamma radiation fields.
A modular data acquisition system for reconstruction of radiation dose spatial distribution in radiotherapy treatment planning
P. Jurgielewicz, M. Filipek, T. Fiutowski, D. Kabat, K. Kalecińska, Ł. Kapłon, M. Kopeć, S. Koperny, D. Kulig, J. Moroń, G. Moskal, A. Ruciński, P. Wiącek, T. Szumlak, B. Mindur

abstract
In this work we propose the complete Data Acquisition (DAQ) system for measurement of volumetric radiotherapeutic dose deposition in tissue-like phantoms based on 3D printed plastic scintillators. The DAQ is easily extensible thanks to the modular architecture of its hardware and software components. We show results from the full measurement chain indicating proper operation of the system.
A reconfigurable detector for measuring the spatial distribution of radiation dose for applications in the preparation of individual patient treatment plans
M. Kopeć, T. Fiutowski, P. Jurgielewicz, D. Kabat, K. Kalecińska, Ł. Kapłon, S. Koperny, D. Kulig, J. Moroń, G. Moskal, A. Ruciński, P. Wiącek, T. Szumlak, B. Mindur

abstract
In this work, a novel reconfigurable Dose-3D detector intended for a full spatial therapeutic dose measurement to improve radiotherapy treatment planning is presented. The device is composed of a reconfigurable detection phantom allowing patient-centric adjustments to its geometry, a scalable data acquisition system (including hardware, firmware, and low-level software) designed to change with the phantom?s configuration seamlessly, and a high-level software package for tumour geometry extraction based on computer tomography scans. Extracted geometry will be used in the Monte Carlo simulations and the configuration of the phantom. Each of the components to be used in the measurement system has been assessed obtaining the following results. The scintillating voxels? light output is sufficient. The data acquisition system with its hardware and software has been tested using artificial testing signals and laser light proving a reliable and robust means of physics data reconstruction.
A reconfigurable detector for measuring the spatial distribution of radiation dose for applications in the preparation of individual patient treatment plans
M. Kopeć, T. Fiutowski, P. Jurgielewicz, D. Kabat, K. Kalecińska, Ł. Kapłon, S. Koperny, D. Kulig, J. Moroń, G. Moskal, A. Ruciński, P. Wiącek, T. Szumlak, B. Mindur

abstract
In this work, a novel reconfigurable Dose-3D detector intended for a full spatial therapeutic dose measurement to improve radiotherapy treatment planning is presented. The device is composed of a reconfigurable detection phantom allowing patient-centric adjustments to its geometry, a scalable data acquisition system (including hardware, firmware, and low-level software) designed to change with the phantom?s configuration seamlessly, and a high-level software package for tumour geometry extraction based on computer tomography scans. Extracted geometry will be used in the Monte Carlo simulations and the configuration of the phantom. Each of the components to be used in the measurement system has been assessed obtaining the following results. The scintillating voxels? light output is sufficient. The data acquisition system with its hardware and software has been tested using artificial testing signals and laser light proving a reliable and robust means of physics data reconstruction.
Medical imaging data analysis using 3D deep learning models towards improving the individual treatment plans
K. Kalecińska, T. Fiutowski, P. Jurgielewicz, D. Kabat, B. Rachwał, Ł. Kapłon, M. Kopeć, S. Koperny, D. Kulig, J. Moroń, G. Moskal, A. Ruciński, P. Wiącek, B. Mindur, T. Szumlak

abstract
This work is a part of a research project aiming at delivering the next generation active medical phantom, Dose-3D, with high spatial granulation for quasi-real time measurement of the volumetric radiotherapeutic dose deposited during photon therapy. The preliminary results, discussed here, pertain to the intelligent medical data augmentation using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) technique implemented inside MONAI framework. However, in the scope of the project, we perform a broad search for the most efficient and advanced Deep Learning (DL) models to create tools for 3D Computed Tomography (CT) images segmentation and cancer diagnosis improvement that will be an integral part of the custom designed software platform for processing data collected with Dose-3D phantom. Apart from the innovative detection system the software itself may prove to be disruptive in the context of the currently available tools by offering open-source high quality toolkit for wide use in everyday clinical applications.
Investigation of the light output of 3D-printed plastic scintillators for dosimetry applications
Ł. Kapłon, D. Kulig, S. Beddar, T. Fiutowski, W. Górska, J. Hajduga, P. Jurgielewicz, D. Kabat, K. Kalecińska, M. Kopeć, S. Koperny, B. Mindur, J. Moroń, G. Moskal, S. Niedźwiecki, M. Silarski, F. Sobczuk, T. Szumlak, A. Ruciński

abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing, specifically digital light processing (DLP) technique, can be used to manufacture plastic scintillators of any shape. The purpose of this study was to determine the light output of DLP 3Dprinted scintillators for dosimetry applications. Two types of plastic scintillators with dimensions 10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm were fabricated using DLP 3D-printing at Hanyang University, South Korea. The light output of these DLP 3D-printed samples was measured and compared to that of a commercial plastic scintillator of the same dimensions, RP-408, produced by casting. The 3D-printed scintillators emitting violet and blue light had a lower relative light output by 49% and 43%, respectively, compared to the RP-408 reference scintillator. We also investigated three types of scintillator surface finishing methods: the original surface made by the 3D printer, a sanded surface, and a polished surface. Furthermore, three wrapping configurations were tested: bare scintillator, diffuse-type polytetrafluoroethylene tape, and specular-type enhanced specular reflector foil. Both reflector types, diffuse and specular, reflected blue light with comparable efficiency. Additionally, emission and transmission spectra of the samples were measured. Emission maxima were located at 430 nm for RP-408, and 438 and 475 nm for two 3D-printed samples. Transmittance at the wavelength of maximum emission was equal to 89% for RP-408, and 73% and 66% for the two DLP-printed samples. Although the light output of the 3D-printed scintillators was about 50% lower than that of the commercial plastic scintillator, due to characteristics of 3Dprinted plastic scintillators, i.e. fast, low-cost production, and easy customization of the printed shape, they are promising as an active part of dosimeters for use in high intensity gamma radiation fields produced by medical linear accelerators with acceptable signal-to-noise ratio level.
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