Particle emission tomography
AssigneesArizona Board of Regents on Behalt of the University of Arizona, inviCro, LLC
InventorsHarrison H. Barrett, Yijun Ding, Luca Caucci, John William Hoppin
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Abstract
The present invention provides autoradiography methods and systems for imaging via the detection of alpha particles, beta particles, or other charged particles. Embodiments of the methods and systems provide high-resolution 3D imaging of the distribution of a radioactive probe, such as a radiopharmaceutical, on a tissue sample. Embodiments of the present methods and systems provide imaging of tissue samples by reconstruction of a 3D distribution of a source of particles, such as a radiopharmaceutical. Embodiments of the methods and systems provide tomographic methods including microtomography, macrotomography, cryomicrotomography and cryomacrotomography.
Claims23
A method for reconstructing a three dimensional (3D) distribution of a source of particles in a tissue sample, the method comprising the steps of:
- placing a particle-processing detector adjacent to a single side of the tissue sample;
- repeating, for each of a plurality of particles received from the single side of the tissue sample, the steps of:
- detecting the particle with the particle-processing detector, wherein the particle is a beta particle, alpha particle, positron, or electron;
- determining attributes of the particle;
- wherein the attributes comprise at least two of:
- (i) a two dimensional position corresponding to an interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- (ii) an energy that is deposited in the particle-processing detector by the particle;
- and
- (iii) a direction of travel of the particle at the interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- and
- storing the attributes of the particle;
- thereby generating attributes for each of the plurality of particles;
- and
- reconstructing the 3D distribution of the source of particles using at least a portion of the attributes for each of the plurality of particles received from the single side of the tissue sample, wherein the detector provides a spatial resolution of 750 nm to 1 μm.
A method for reconstructing a three dimensional (3D) distribution of a source of particles in a tissue sample, the method comprising the steps of:
- placing a particle-processing detector adjacent to a single side of the tissue sample;
- repeating, for each of a plurality of particles received from the single side of the tissue sample, the steps of:
- detecting the particle with the particle-processing detector, wherein the particle is a beta particle, alpha particle, positron, or electron;
- determining attributes of the particle;
- wherein the attributes comprise at least two of:
- (i) a two dimensional position corresponding to an interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- (ii) an energy that is deposited in the particle-processing detector by the particle;
- and
- (iii) a direction of travel of the particle at the interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- and
- storing the attributes of the particle;
- thereby generating attributes for each of the plurality of particles;
- and
- reconstructing the 3D distribution of the source of particles using at least a portion of the attributes for each of the plurality of particles received from the single side of the tissue sample,
- wherein the at least a portion of the particle attributes are determined using a maximum-likelihood estimate algorithm.
A method for reconstructing a three dimensional (3D) distribution of a source of particles in a tissue sample, the method comprising the steps of:
- placing a particle-processing detector adjacent to a single side of the tissue sample;
- repeating, for each of a plurality of particles received from the single side of the tissue sample, the steps of:
- detecting the particle with the particle-processing detector, wherein the particle is a beta particle, alpha particle, positron, or electron;
- determining attributes of the particle;
- wherein the attributes comprise at least two of:
- (i) a two dimensional position corresponding to an interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- (ii) an energy that is deposited in the particle-processing detector by the particle;
- and
- (iii) a direction of travel of the particle at the interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- and
- storing the attributes of the particle;
- thereby generating attributes for each of the plurality of particles;
- and
- reconstructing the 3D distribution of the source of particles using at least a portion of the attributes for each of the plurality of particles received from the single side of the tissue sample,
- wherein the step of reconstructing the 3D distribution is performed using a list-mode maximum-likelihood expectation-maximization algorithm.
A device for reconstructing a three dimensional (3D) distribution of a source of particles within a tissue sample, wherein the particles comprise beta particles, alpha particles, positrons, or conversion electrons, the device comprising:
- a particle-processing detector for detecting particles, wherein the detector provides a spatial resolution of 750 nm to 1 μm;
- a processor positioned in data communication with the particle-processing detector, wherein the processor is configured for:
- determining attributes of a plurality of particles received from at least a single side of the tissue sample;
- wherein the attributes comprise at least two of:
- (i) a two dimensional position corresponding to an interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- (ii) an energy that is deposited in the particle-processing detector by the particle;
- and
- (iii) a direction of travel of the particle at the interaction point where the particle interacts with the particle-processing detector;
- and
- storing the attributes of the plurality of particles received from at least a single side of the tissue sample;
- thereby generating attributes for each of the plurality of particles;
- and
- reconstructing the 3D distribution of the source of particles using at least a portion of the attributes for each of the plurality of particles received from at least a single side of the tissue sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.