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Author Cabello, J.; Torres-Espallardo, I.; Gillam, J.E.; Rafecas, M.
Title PET Reconstruction From Truncated Projections Using Total-Variation Regularization for Hadron Therapy Monitoring Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.
Volume 60 Issue 5 Pages 3364-3372
Keywords
Abstract Hadron therapy exploits the properties of ion beams to treat tumors by maximizing the dose released to the target and sparing healthy tissue. With hadron beams, the dose distribution shows a relatively low entrance dose which rises sharply at the end of the range, providing the characteristic Bragg peak that drops quickly thereafter. It is of critical importance in order not to damage surrounding healthy tissues and/or avoid targeting underdosage to know where the delivered dose profile ends-the location of the Bragg peak. During hadron therapy, short-lived beta(+)-emitters are produced along the beam path, their distribution being correlated with the delivered dose. Following positron annihilation, two photons are emitted, which can be detected using a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. The low yield of emitters, their short half-life, and the wash out from the target region make the use of PET, even only a few minutes after hadron irradiation, a challenging application. In-beam PET represents a potential candidate to estimate the distribution of beta(+)-emitters during or immediately after irradiation, at the cost of truncation effects and degraded image quality due to the partial rings required of the PET scanner. Time-of-flight (ToF) information can potentially be used to compensate for truncation effects and to enhance image contrast. However, the highly demanding timing performance required in ToF-PET makes this option costly. Alternatively, the use of maximum-a-posteriori-expectation-maximization (MAP-EM), including total variation (TV) in the cost function, produces images with low noise, while preserving spatial resolution. In this paper, we compare data reconstructed with maximum-likelihood-expectation-maximization (ML-EM) and MAP-EM using TV as prior, and the impact of including ToF information, from data acquired with a complete and a partial-ring PET scanner, of simulated hadron beams interacting with a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) target. The results show that MAP-EM, in the absence of ToF information, produces lower noise images and more similar data compared to the simulated beta(+) distributions than ML-EM with ToF information in the order of 200-600 ps. The investigation is extended to the combination of MAP-EM and ToF information to study the limit of performance using both approaches.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0018-9499 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000325827200023 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 1610
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Author Oliver, J.F.; Fuster-Garcia, E.; Cabello, J.; Tortajada, S.; Rafecas, M.
Title Application of Artificial Neural Network for Reducing Random Coincidences in PET Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.
Volume 60 Issue 5 Pages 3399-3409
Keywords
Abstract Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is based on the detection in coincidence of the two photons created in a positron annihilation. In conventional PET, this coincidence identification is usually carried out through a coincidence electronic unit. An accidental coincidence occurs when two photons arising from different annihilations are classified as a coincidence. Accidental coincidences are one of the main sources of image degradation in PET. Some novel systems allow coincidences to be selected post-acquisition in software, or in real time through a digital coincidence engine in an FPGA. These approaches provide the user with extra flexibility in the sorting process and allow the application of alternative coincidence sorting procedures. In this work a novel sorting procedure based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques has been developed. It has been compared to a conventional coincidence sorting algorithm based on a time coincidence window. The data have been obtained from Monte-Carlo simulations. A small animal PET scanner has been implemented to this end. The efficiency (the ratio of correct identifications) can be selected for both methods. In one case by changing the actual value of the coincidence window used, and in the other by changing a threshold at the output of the neural network. At matched efficiencies, the ANN-based method always produces a sorted output with a smaller random fraction. In addition, two differential trends are found: the conventional method presents a maximum achievable efficiency, while the ANN-based method is able to increase the efficiency up to unity, the ideal value, at the cost of increasing the random fraction. Images reconstructed using ANN sorted data (no compensation for randoms) present better contrast, and those image features which are more affected by randoms are enhanced. For the image quality phantom used in the paper, the ANN method decreases the spill-over ratio by a factor of 18%.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0018-9499 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000325827200027 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 1611
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Author Aguiar, P.; Rafecas, M.; Ortuño, J.E.; Kontaxakis, G.; Santos, A.; Pavia, J.; Rosetti, M.
Title Geometrical and Monte Carlo projectors in 3D PET reconstruction Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication Medical Physics Abbreviated Journal Med. Phys.
Volume 37 Issue 11 Pages 5691-5702
Keywords 3D PET; iterative reconstruction; list-mode reconstruction; ray-tracing techniques; Monte Carlo simulation; system response matrix
Abstract Purpose: In the present work, the authors compare geometrical and Monte Carlo projectors in detail. The geometrical projectors considered were the conventional geometrical Siddon ray-tracer (S-RT) and the orthogonal distance-based ray-tracer (OD-RT), based on computing the orthogonal distance from the center of image voxel to the line-of-response. A comparison of these geometrical projectors was performed using different point spread function (PSF) models. The Monte Carlo-based method under consideration involves an extensive model of the system response matrix based on Monte Carlo simulations and is computed off-line and stored on disk. Methods: Comparisons were performed using simulated and experimental data of the commercial small animal PET scanner rPET. Results: The results demonstrate that the orthogonal distance-based ray-tracer and Siddon ray-tracer using PSF image-space convolutions yield better images in terms of contrast and spatial resolution than those obtained after using the conventional method and the multiray-based S-RT. Furthermore, the Monte Carlo-based method yields slight improvements in terms of contrast and spatial resolution with respect to these geometrical projectors. Conclusions: The orthogonal distance-based ray-tracer and Siddon ray-tracer using PSF image-space convolutions represent satisfactory alternatives to factorizing the system matrix or to the conventional on-the-fly ray-tracing methods for list-mode reconstruction, where an extensive modeling based on Monte Carlo simulations is unfeasible.
Address [Aguiar, Pablo] Univ Santiago de Compostela, Dept Fis Particulas, Complexo Hosp Univ Santiago de Compostela, Fdn IDICHUS IDIS, Santiago De Compostela, Spain, Email: pablo.aguiar.fernandez@sergas.es
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Amer Assoc Physicists Medicine Amer Inst Physics Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0094-2405 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes ISI:000283747600015 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration no
Call Number IFIC @ elepoucu @ Serial 338
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Author Llosa, G.; Barrio, J.; Cabello, J.; Crespo, A.; Lacasta, C.; Rafecas, M.; Callier, S.; de la Taille, C.; Raux, L.
Title Detector characterization and first coincidence tests of a Compton telescope based on LaBr3 crystals and SiPMs Type Journal Article
Year 2012 Publication Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research A Abbreviated Journal Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A
Volume 695 Issue Pages 105-108
Keywords Hadron therapy; Compton imaging; LaBr3; Continuous crystal; SiPM; MPPC; G-APD
Abstract A Compton telescope for dose monitoring in hadron therapy consisting of several layers of continuous LaBr3 crystals coupled to silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays is under development within the ENVISION project. In order to test the possibility of employing such detectors for the telescope, a detector head consisting of a continuous 16 mm x 18 mm x 5 mm LaBr3 crystal coupled to a SiPM array has been assembled and characterized, employing the SPIROC1 ASIC as readout electronics. The best energy resolution obtained at 511 key is 6.5% FWHM and the timing resolution is 3.1 ns FWHM. A position determination method for continuous crystals is being tested, with promising results. In addition, the detector has been operated in time coincidence with a second detector layer, to determine the coincidence capabilities of the system. The first tests are satisfactory, and encourage the development of larger detectors that will compose the telescope prototype.
Address [Llosa, G.; Barrio, J.; Cabello, J.; Crespo, A.; Lacasta, C.; Rafecas, M.] UVEG, CSIC, IFIC, Inst Fis Corpuscular, Valencia, Spain, Email: gabriela.llosa@ific.uv.es
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Elsevier Science Bv Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-9002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000311469900020 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 1235
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Author Beltrame, P. et al; Oliver, J.F.; Rafecas, M.; Solevi, P.
Title The AX-PET demonstrator-Design, construction and characterization Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research A Abbreviated Journal Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A
Volume 654 Issue 1 Pages 546-559
Keywords PET; Axial geometry; Geiger-mode Avalanche Photo Diodes (G-APD); SiPM
Abstract Axial PET is a novel geometrical concept for Positron Emission Tomography (PET), based on layers of long scintillating crystals axially aligned with the bore axis. The axial coordinate is obtained from arrays of wavelength shifting (WLS) plastic strips placed orthogonally to the crystals. This article describes the design, construction and performance evaluation of a demonstrator set-up which consists of two identical detector modules, used in coincidence. Each module comprises 48 LYSO crystals of 100 mm length and 156 WLS strips. Crystals and strips are readout by Geiger-mode Avalanche Photo Diodes (G-APDs). The signals from the two modules are processed by fully analog front-end electronics and recorded in coincidence by a VME-based data acquisition system. Measurements with point-like (22)Na sources, with the modules used both individually and in coincidence mode, allowed for a complete performance evaluation up to the focal plane reconstruction of point sources. The results obtained are in good agreement with expectations and proved the set-up to be ready for the next evaluation phase with PET phantoms filled with radiotracers.
Address [Casella, C; Dissertori, G; Djambazov, L; Lustermann, W; Nessi-Tedaldi, F; Pauss, F; Renker, D; Schinzel, D] ETH, Inst Particle Phys, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland, Email: Chiara.Casella@cern.ch
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Elsevier Science Bv Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0168-9002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000295765100078 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 790
Permanent link to this record