Computational Approach to Design a Liquid Argon time-of-flight Positron Emission Tomography (LAr-TOF-PET) Scanner Using Monte Carlo Method
Résumé
This paper presents the design of a new Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with improved time resolution, Time-Of-Flight PET (TOF-PET). Using the time information improves image quality and reduces the radiation dose inoculated to patients. Extended Field-Of-View (FOV) total-body scanner built from low-radioactivity liquid argon (LAr) scintillator (LAr-TOF-PET) and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are readout by fast cryogenic electronics. This new concept is based on the emerging technology coming from the field of direct dark matter searches for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The DarkSide Collaboration has been particularly successful in demonstrating the true power of the advancing LAr detector technology. SiPM technology has many broader applications in science and industry, most notably in medical physics, where exquisite timing resolution of SiPMs could revolutionize PET, one of the key tools in a diagnosis of cancer, allowing one to substantially improve precision and at the same time minimize adverse side-effects to the patient. We simulated this design using Geant4 toolkit while following the National Electrical Manufacturers Association’s evaluation tests for performance assessment. We will present results that highlight a 200-fold increase in sensitivity, spatial resolutions comparable to commercial PET scanners and produce PET images from 15-30 second scans, faster than traditional 30-35-minute scans. Further studies will involve optimizing the layer thickness of LAr+Xe. Moreover, scintillation induced ionization electrons can produce Cherenkov radiation along with the LAr+Xe scintillation light. With the LAr+Xe scintillator and SiPMs of 3Dπ, we can use the precise TOF info of gamma rays to improve the localization of individual positron annihilations, and as one example benefit, provide low-dose PET scans for patients who may be at high risk for exposure to radiation.
Mots clés
Image quality
Scintillators
Sensitivity
Liquids
Detectors
Timing
Argon
cancer
dark matter
hypothetical particles
liquid scintillation detectors
Monte Carlo methods
photomultipliers
positron emission tomography
silicon radiation detectors
time projection chambers
improved time resolution
Time-Of-Flight PET
time information
Field-Of-View total-body scanner
low-radioactivity liquid argon scintillator
LAr-TOF-PET
advancing LAr detector technology
SiPM technology
timing resolution
commercial PET scanners
PET images
LAr+Xe scintillation light
LAr+Xe scintillator
low-dose PET scans
argon time-of-flight Positron Emission Tomography scanner
monte carlo method
weakly interacting massive particles
silicon photomultipliers
cryogenic electronics
DarkSide Collaboration
scintillation induced ionization electrons
positron annihilations
Total-Body PET
Liquid Argonv
SiPM
Geant4
photomultiplier
silicon
detector
liquid argon
technology
positron
annihilation
scintillation counter
radiation
Cherenkov
liquid
electron positron
sensitivity
time-of-flight
time resolution
WIMP
Monte Carlo
quality
cryogenics
argon
ionization
electronics
resolution
localization
electron
time projection chamber
spatial resolution
gamma ray
medicine
performance
readout
radiation detector