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US 2017/0368209 A1Published application
Positron emission capsule for image-guided proton therapy
AssigneesNational Guard Health Affairs, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center
InventorMamdooh ALQATHAMI
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Abstract
Multi-modal imaging capsule for image-guided proton beam therapy, consisting of a biocompatible polymer layer, 18O-enriched water, and a contrast agent. The biocompatible capsule may be inserted near or inside a tumor under the guidance of X-ray, magnetic resonance, or ultrasonography imaging. Upon proton beam irradiation, the capsule emits positrons, allowing the tumor to be imaged and tracked by a PET detector.
Claims20
1:
- A positron emitter capsule comprising:
- a biocompatible encapsulating polymer layer;
- a volume of 18O-enriched water, wherein the 18O-enriched water is encapsulated by the polymer layer;
- and
- a contrast agent which is active under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or X-ray imaging.
2 more elements
2:
- The capsule of claim 1 which has a shortest dimension of 0.8 to 2 mm and a longest dimension of 2 to 20 mm.
3:
- The capsule of claim 1 wherein the contrast agent is a metallic particle with a largest dimension less than 1 μm.
4:
- The capsule of claim 1 wherein the contrast agent is at least one metallic particle or metallic compound selected from the group consisting of barium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gadolinium, gold, hafnium, iridium, iron, manganese, nickel, palladium, platinum, rhenium, silver, tantalum, thallium, titanium, tin, tungsten, and vanadium.
5:
- The capsule of claim 1 wherein the contrast agent is a metal oxide.
6:
- The capsule of claim 5 wherein the metal oxide is barium oxide, bismuth oxide, cobalt oxide, copper oxide, gadolinium oxide, hafnium oxide, iridium oxide, iron oxide, manganese oxide, nickel oxide, palladium oxide, silver oxide, tantalum oxide, thallium oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide, tungsten oxide, or vanadium oxide.
7:
- The capsule of claim 1 wherein the contrast agent is located on an external surface of the polymer layer, dispersed within the polymer layer, dispersed within the volume of 18O-enriched water, or any combination thereof.
8:
- The capsule of claim 1 wherein the contrast agent is present in the form of agglomerates having a largest dimension between 50 nm and 2 μm, and the agglomerates are dispersed on an external surface of the polymer layer or dispersed within the polymer layer.
9:
- The capsule of claim 1 wherein the external surface of the biocompatible polymer layer is corrugated or knurled to limit movement within an organism.
10:
- The capsule of claim 1 wherein the polymer layer comprises at least one polymer selected from the group consisting of a fluoropolymer, a polyarylether ketone, a polyether, a polyester, a polyamide, a polyimide, a polyurethane, a polycarbonate, a polyanhydride, a polyurea, a polyolefin, a polystyrene, a polysulfone, a polysulfide, a polyketone, a poly(methyl acrylate), a polymethacrylamide, a vinyl polymer, and a polysiloxane.
11:
- The capsule of claim 1 further comprising a second stable isotope, present as part of a molecule or compound, wherein the second stable isotope is capable of being proton-activated into a positron-emitting isotope.
12:
- The capsule of claim 11 wherein the second stable isotope is selected from the group consisting of 89Y, 63Cu, 65Cu, 64Zn, 66Zn, 67Zn, 68Zn, 70Zn, 69Ga, 71Ga, 30Si, 15N, 13C and 11B.
13:
- A method of treating a tumor in an organism, comprising:
- administering the capsule of claim 1 to the organism;
- locating the capsule with computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasonography, or X-ray imaging, from a signal produced by the capsule;
- irradiating the tumor and capsule with a proton beam from outside the organism to convert the 18O-enriched water to an aqueous radioisotope 18F− fluoride ion within the capsule by a photonuclear reaction, whereby the radioisotope 18F− fluoride ion emits positrons;
- and
- imaging the tumor and tumor environment by measuring the emitted positrons with a positron emission tomography (PET) detector to produce a first set of image and location data.
3 more elements
14:
- The method of claim 13, wherein the capsule is administered by injecting the capsule into the organism, next to or inside the tumor.
15:
- The method of claim 13, wherein the capsule is administered orally.
16:
- The method of claim 13, wherein the positron emission tomography detector is located off-site in relation to the proton beam.
17:
- The method of claim 13, further comprising repeating the irradiating to produce a second set of emitted positrons.
18:
- The method of claim 17, further comprising imaging the second set of emitted positrons to produce a second set of image and location data.
19:
- The method of claim 18, further comprising tracking the movement of the tumor by comparing the first and second set of image and location data.
20:
- The method of claim 18, further comprising tracking the movement of the capsule by comparing the first and second set of image and location data.