用于HIRFL重离子治癌的PET成像实验研究与蒙特卡罗模拟

为了HIRFL重离子治癌的需要,使用两个位置灵敏闪烁体探测器组成了一个简单的PET成像系统.对PET成像进行了实验研究,实验测量得到了物体成像以及γ射线能谱,对于511keV全能峰处的能量分辨率为186%,峰总比为52.4%.采用GEANT3程序对该系统进行了模拟计算,并与实验进行比较,最后对该系统进行了优化设计     

γ射线和PET用晶体单元相互作用特性的研究

γ射线与晶体单元的相互作用特性对于PET探测器的研制有着重要的参考意义. 通过实验测得了不同能量的γ射线在BGO, CsI, NaI 3种闪烁晶体中的探测效率、 能量分辨率等相互作用特性参数, 并与蒙特卡洛模拟结果进行了比较. 结果给出了最适合PET探测器的晶体单元. It’s important for development of PET detector that the interaction effect of γ rays and scintillator units are studied. The detection efficiencies and energy resolutions of γ rays for BGO, CsI and NaI crystal detector units are measured. Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations are compared with the experimental results. The results of the best detection units for PET detector are presented.     

高分辨率及高灵敏度小动物PET研究进展

作为一种高灵敏度且具有定量测量能力的功能分子影像技术,小动物PET越来越广泛地用于各种生物医学研究,例如疾病动物模型研究、新药物研发和新治疗方法评估等。首先回顾小动物PET成像系统的发展历史、效率和空间分辨率等性能的改进和产业化;其次,讨论了影响PET空间分辨率和效率的各种因素,包括晶体大小、探测器几何、正电子射程、光子非共线效应、图像重建算法和阻碍PET系统同时达到高空间分辨率和高效率的相互作用深度不确定效应;最后,介绍了小动物PET成像系统在以下几个方面的取得的最新进展:（1）高密度、小的光衰减常数和高光产额的闪烁晶体;（2）体积小、增益大、时间性能好、工作电压低和磁兼容的新型硅光电倍增管光探测器;（3）各种深度测量PET探测器,详细介绍了一个可达到分辨0.43 mm×0.43 mm×20 mm晶格和达到2.4 mm深度分辨率的双端读出探测器;（4）使用深度测量探测器的小动物PET成像系统,详细介绍了一个使用高分辨率双端读出探测器,全视野达到0.55 mm平均位置分辨率的小动物PET原型系统;（5）磁兼容插件式小动物PET成像系统和PET/MRI同时成像的优点;（6）小动物PET图像重建和数据校正的特点、传统的滤波反投影算法和新的迭代算法的优缺点和PET图像重建算法未来的发展方向。As the most sensitive and quantitative molecular imaging technique,small animal positron emission tomography (PET) has become a widely used tool in biomedical research such as in animal model of human disease,development of new drugs and the evaluation of new therapeutics.In this paper,first the history,the efforts to improve the spatial resolution and sensitivity as well as the commercialization process of small animal PET scanner are reviewed.Then the factors that affect the spatial resolution and sensitivity of PET scanner such as crystal size,detector geometry,positron range,photon noncollinearity and imaging reconstruction are discussed in detail.The depth of interaction effect which hinders the simultaneous achievement of PET spatial resolution and sensitivity are also discussed.Finally the recent progress made in the following areas of small animal PET instrumentation are introduced:(1) high density,short light decay constant and bright scintillator,(2) compact,high gain,good timing resolution,low bias voltage and MRI compatible silicon photomultiplier,(3) depth encoding detectors by using different methods,a detector using dual-ended readout,identifying 0.43 mm×0.43 mm×20 mm crystals and achieving a 2.4 mm depth of interaction resolution was introduced in detail,(4) small animal PET scanners using depth encoding detectors,a prototype scanner using high resolution dualended readout detectors and achieving an average of 0.55 mm spatial resolution in the whole field of view was introduced in detail.(5) MRI compatible small animal PET inserts and the advantage of simultaneous PET/MRI imaging,(6) image reconstruction and data correction of small animal PET,the filter back projection and iterative reconstruction algorithms are compared and a few key directions of PET image reconstruction will be presented.     

用于高分辨率 PET探测器的LSO闪烁晶体的研究

LSO晶体具有密度大光输出量强和衰减时间短的特性使其成为在PET探测器领域的应用潜在的闪烁晶体材料.按照辐射成象系统应用的性能要求我们对LSO晶体的闪烁特性进行了评价.为了获取较高的光输出量,研究和验证了许许多多的晶体表面的状况对光输出量的影响.对于单个LSO晶体和R5900-00-C12位敏管相耦合的系统,钠伽马射线源的511keV的能量峰处的能量分辨率为15%,时间分辨率为0.65ns,最后对三个LSO阵列分别成象验证了其空间分辨本领.     

伽马射线辐射原位强化增韧含三羟甲基丙烷三丙烯酸酯的PET/弹性体合金

在少量的交联剂三羟甲基丙烷三丙烯酸酯存在下,研究了高能伽马射线辐射对PET/弹性体（ST2000）合金的原位强化增韧效应.在PET合金熔融共混的高温下,TMPTA可与PET和ST2000的分子链发生反应,使PET和ST2000发生分子内和分子间的交联,增强界面相互作用,使得PET合金的冲击性能提高,但拉伸强度有所下降.PET合金经过高吸收剂量的伽马射线辐照后,可以原位增加体系内部弹性相和界面相的化学交联程度,进一步提升PET合金的综合力学性能.当吸收剂量为100 kGy时,样条在冲击测试条件下未发生断裂,同时拉伸强度几乎保持不变.     

PET探测器技术的新进展

PET设备中探测器的研发, 一直是很活跃且具有高创新性的领域。 提高现有基于闪烁晶体探测器的性能, 研究适用于多模式成像设备（PET/CT和PET/MRI）的新型探测器, 满足TOF和DOI技术的需求并促进其发展应用, 构成PET探测器的几个主要研究方向。 介绍了PET探测器在闪烁晶体、 光电探测器和半导体探测器等方面的最新进展, 指出未来最有潜力的探测器设计方案。 The research on PET detector is a very active and highly innovative field. The main research interests of PET detector include improving performances of scintillation crystal detectors, investigating new detectors being suitable for multimodality imaging (e.g., PET/CT and PET/MRI), meeting needs of TOF and DOI technologies in order to promote their development and application. In this paper, new developments in PET detector technology about scintillation crystal, photodetector and semiconductor detector are introduced and the most potential detector design scheme in the future is brought forward.     

基于Gate与Matlab的PET电子学仿真系统研究

正电子发射断层成像PET （Positron Emission Tomography）是一套庞大、复杂而又极其精密的大型医疗设备,由成千上万个探测单元及相应的信号采集通道组成,其复杂的采集逻辑直接导致系统前期研发迭代次数多、硬件调试困难,且时间与资金成本投入高。本文通过研究PET系统整体结构及前端电子采集模块的功能,设计出基于Gate仿真软件（Geant4 application for tomographic emission）和MATLAB （matrixlaboratory,Mathworks Inc.）数据处理包的PET电子学仿真架构,利用数字化单事件重建DiSER （digitalsingle-event-reconstruction）模型将Gate仿真得到的湮灭事件的能量、时间信息进行综合,转换为光子脉冲信号并由模数转换器ADC （analog-to-digital converter）进行量化,量化数据输入到现场可编程门阵列FPGA （field programmable gate array）和MATLAB协仿真模块中,验证FPGA硬件采集算法的可行性。待各模块的湮灭事件采集完毕,将多模块数据进一步综合输入到FPGA符合处理模块中,完成PET系统符合单元的功能验证。最后,将设计的算法在基于飞行时间技术的TOF （time-of flight）-PET样机上进行了测试,验证了设计的有效性和正确性。该系统仿真平台可应用于PET系统整个研发周期,其搭建思路也可灵活、有效地拓展到其他领域的系统建模与验证之中。     

环氧树脂基PET复合材料超导应用可行性研究

在超导电物理装置中,超导磁体系统绝缘在极低温条件下由于脆性增大容易损坏,因此发展低温抗疲劳、易导热和介电性能优良的绝缘材料十分必要.为了探索电工用途的PET(聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯)纤维在超导绝缘领域应用的可行性,以PET增强双酚A环氧树脂复合材料制作的样品为研究对象开展了电阻率、介电常数、介质损耗测试,电阻率测试表明,...     

基于蛇形光路的PET探测器作用深度提取方法

为实现正电子发射断层成像(Positron Emission Tomography,PET)探测器的作用深度(Depth Of Interaction,DOI)信息获取,本文提出一种基于分光技术的探测器设计方案.探测器采用晶体单元与硅光电倍增管(Silicon Photomultiplier,SiPM)一对一耦合、蛇形光路的设计和单端Anger加权读出方法进行DOI解码.基于GATE软件进行蒙特卡罗模拟,建立8×1的LSO晶体阵列(单根晶体尺寸3.1×3.1×20mm3);模拟泛场照射获取位置查找表;并进行不同深度的模拟,获得各晶体在各深度的空间分辨率.结果显示所模拟的探测器模块DOI分辨率在1.0~6.7mm之间,平均值为3.2mm.本文提出的基于蛇形光路的PET探测器方案能在维持系统成本和复杂度的前提下实现DOI解码,提升PET系统的成像性能.     

大气压低温空气刷型微等离子体在生物医学应用

在这项研究中,自行研制在大气压下能够实现稳定刷型空气放电便携式等离子体装置并应用PET聚合物表面改性和生物医学中,在室温下整齐稳定的刷型微等离子体形成于Al_2O_3陶瓷腔底端微孔中空光纤管的末端附近,这种等离子体可以均匀大面积改性PET聚合物.等离子体可以有效地防止热敏聚合物被损坏,并且很明显的改善被处理的聚合物表面的特性,例如表面的化学成分、疏水性和生物相容性.通过对比未经等离子体处理的PET表面吸附大量的血小板和经等离子体处理后的PET表面几乎没有吸附血小板,这可归功于PET表面功能特性的改变.为了找出影响生物相容性关键因素,进一步分析了等离子体的发射光谱及PET聚合物表面化学成份.     

双层深度编码探测器的晶体表面优化

设计了双层LSO晶体和位置灵敏型光电倍增管耦合构成的用于小动物PET成像的 深度编码探测器. 众所周知, 晶体的不同的表面处理影响着光输出量, 进而影响着它们构建的PET探测器的性能. 为了优化设计的深度编码探测器的性能, 测试了两种不同表面处理的LSO闪烁晶体阵列探测器的晶体分辨能力及其能量、时间和空间分辨率, 结果表明, 光滑表面LSO晶体构建的深度编码探测器显示出良好的空间、能量及时间分辨特性.     

Miscibility and Hydrogen Bonding Interactions in Blends of Poly(hydroxyether ketone) and Poly(4-vinyl pyridine)

The influence of silica nanoparticles on the tensile properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PET) fibers was investigated. The results showed that mechanical properties of PET fibers were improved through nano‐silica incorporation. Two maxima of the modulus‐strain curves of PET/silica nanocomposites (PETS) fibers are always higher than those of pure PET (PET0) fibers. The results of microstructure investigations suggested that the amorphous orientation factor of PETS fibers is higher than that of PET0 fibers. It is suggested that the increase of amorphous orientation factor contributed to the improvement of tensile properties of PET fibers. Considering the difference in modulus‐strain curves of PET0 and PETS fibers, it is believed that the addition of nanoparticles not only improved the amorphous orientation factor but also changed the load units of PET fibers when strained, which also resulted in the improvement of tensile properties.     

Adhesion strength study between plasma treated polyester fibres and a rubber matrix

In this work, the adhesion strength between poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibres and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) was studied. The effects of atmospheric plasma treatment, used to increase adhesion strength between PET fibres and the rubber matrix, were investigated and compared. It was confirmed that lubricants on the fibres caused a decrease in adhesion strength between the plasma treated reinforcing PET fibres and the SBR rubber matrix. These lubricants can be removed by acetone. When washed and treated in plasma, a substantial improvement in adhesion strength was observed. No ageing in air before combination with the rubber matrix was observed. This confirmed that the plasma streamers caused the creation of a new, relatively stable chemical species on the polymer surface. It suggests that the surface modification of PET fibres by plasma treatment at atmospheric gas pressure is a suitable and technologically applicable method for the improvement of adhesion strength of polyester reinforcing materials to rubber.     

The effect of discharge power density on polyethylene terephthalate film surface modification by dielectric barrier discharge in atmospheric air

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films are modified using non-equilibrium plasma generated by DBD in atmospheric air, and the effects of discharge power density on the surface modification are studied. It is found that increasing discharge power density can induce more effective treatment of PET films, because this leads to a faster decrease in water contact angle and a faster increase in surface energy due to more creation of polar groups and more obvious etching occurring on the PET surface. So the treatment time needed to achieve the same level of surface treatment can be reduced by increasing the discharge power density.     

Simultaneous acquisition of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data and positron emission tomography (PET) images with a prototype MR-compatible, small animal PET imager

Multi-modality imaging (such as PET-CT) is rapidly becoming a valuable tool in the diagnosis of disease and in the development of new drugs. Functional images produced with PET, fused with anatomical images created by MRI, allow the correlation of form with function. Perhaps more exciting than the combination of anatomical MRI with PET, is the melding of PET with MR spectroscopy (MRS). Thus, two aspects of physiology could be combined in novel ways to produce new insights into the physiology of normal and pathological processes. Our team is developing a system to acquire MRI images and MRS spectra, and PET images contemporaneously. The prototype MR-compatible PET system consists of two opposed detector heads (appropriate in size for small animal imaging), operating in coincidence mode with an active field-of-view of approximately 14 cm in diameter. Each detector consists of an array of LSO detector elements coupled through a 2-m long fiber optic light guide to a single position-sensitive photomultiplier tube. The use of light guides allows these magnetic field-sensitive elements of the PET imager to be positioned outside the strong magnetic field of our 3T MRI scanner. The PET scanner imager was integrated with a 12-cm diameter, 12-leg custom, birdcage coil. Simultaneous MRS spectra and PET images were successfully acquired from a multi-modality phantom consisting of a sphere filled with 17 brain relevant substances and a positron-emitting radionuclide. There were no significant changes in MRI or PET scanner performance when both were present in the MRI magnet bore. This successful initial test demonstrates the potential for using such a multi-modality to obtain complementary MRS and PET data.     

PET image reconstruction with a system matrix containing point spread function derived from single photon incidence response

A point spread function(PSF)for the blurring component in positron emission tomography(PET)is studied.The PSF matrix is derived from the single photon incidence response function.A statistical iterative reconstruction(IR)method based on the system matrix containing the PSF is developed.More specifically,the gamma photon incidence upon a crystal array is simulated by Monte Carlo(MC)simulation,and then the single photon incidence response functions are calculated.Subsequently,the single photon incidence response functions are used to compute the coincidence blurring factor according to the physical process of PET coincidence detection.Through weighting the ordinary system matrix response by the coincidence blurring factors,the IR system matrix containing the PSF is finally established.By using this system matrix,the image is reconstructed by an ordered subset expectation maximization(OSEM)algorithm.The experimental results show that the proposed system matrix can substantially improve the image radial resolution,contrast,and noise property.Furthermore,the simulated single gamma-ray incidence response function depends only on the crystal configuration,so the method could be extended to any PET scanner with the same detector crystal configuration.     

A generalized method of converting CT image to PET linear attenuation coefficient distribution in PET/CT imaging

The accuracy of attenuation correction in positron emission tomography scanners depends mainly on deriving the reliable 511-keV linear attenuation coefficient distribution in the scanned objects. In the PET/CT system, the linear attenu- ation distribution is usually obtained from the intensities of the CT image. However, the intensities of the CT image relate to the attenuation of photons in an energy range of 40 keV-140 keV. Before implementing PET attenuation correction, the intensities of CT images must be transformed into the PET 511-keV linear attenuation coefficients. However, the CT scan parameters can affect the effective energy of CT X-ray photons and thus affect the intensities of the CT image. Therefore, for PET/CT attenuation correction, it is crucial to determine the conversion curve with a given set of CT scan parameters and convert the CT image into a PET linear attenuation coefficient distribution. A generalized method is proposed for con- verting a CT image into a PET linear attenuation coefficient distribution. Instead of some parameter-dependent phantom calibration experiments, the conversion curve is calculated directly by employing the consistency conditions to yield the most consistent attenuation map with the measured PET data. The method is evaluated with phantom experiments and small animal experiments. In phantom studies, the estimated conversion curve fits the true attenuation coefficients accurately, and accurate PET attenuation maps are obtained by the estimated conversion curves and provide nearly the same correction results as the true attenuation map. In small animal studies, a more complicated attenuation distribution of the mouse is obtained successfully to remove the attenuation artifact and improve the PET image contrast efficiently.     

The Nucleation Effect of Grafted Carbon Black on Crystallization of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate)/Grafted Carbon Black Composite

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)/grafted carbon black (PET/GCB) and poly(ethylene terephthalate)/carbon black (PET/CB) composites were prepared by melt blending. The nucleating effect of CB and GCB were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. The morphologies of the spherulites in PET, PET/CB and PET/GCB composites were observed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All results showed that GCB had higher nucleating activity than CB in PET and PET/GCB composite had higher rate of nucleation and crystallization. The melting behaviors of neat PET, PET/CB and PET/GCB composites after non‐isothermal crystallization were investigated as well. It was evident that the melting behavior of PET is greatly influenced by addition of CB and GCB.     

Physical-morphological and chemical changes leading to an increase in adhesion between plasma treated polyester fibres and a rubber matrix

The effects of plasma treatment, used to increase adhesion strength between poly(ethylene terephtalate) (PET) fibres and a rubber matrix, were investigated and compared. Morphological changes as a result of atmospheric plasma treatment were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Wettability analysis using a surface energy evaluation system (SEE system) suggested that the plasma treated fibre was more wetting towards a polar liquid. When treated, these fibres showed a new lamellar crystallization, as shown by a new melting peak using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to study the chemical effect of inert (argon), active and reactive (nitrogen and oxygen) microwave-plasma treatments of a PET surface. Reactive oxygen plasma treatment by a de-convolution method shows new chemical species that drastically alter the chemical reactivity of the PET surface. These studies have also shown that the surface population of chemical species formed after microwave-plasma treatment is dependent on the plasma gas. All these changes cause better adhesion strength of the PET fibres to the rubber matrix.     

Confined crystallization in phase-separated poly(ethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene naphthalene 2,6-dicarboxilate) blends

The isothermal cold crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PET) in cryogenic mechanical alloyed blends of PET and Poly(ethylene naphthalene 2,6-dicarboxilate)(PEN) 1:1 by weight has been investigated by simultaneous small and wide angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS) and dielectric spectroscopy (DS). For transesterification levels higher than 23% the blends tend to transform into a one-phase system and the crystallization of PET is strongly inhibited due to the significant reduction of the PET segment length. For lower levels of transesterification the blends are phase separated and the overall crystallization behaviour can be explained considering the confined nature of the PET domains in these blends. The formation of a rigid amorphous phase in the intra-lamellar stack amorphous regions is reduced in the blends due to a lower probability of stack formation in the confined PET-rich domains. The more effective filling of the space by the lamellar crystals in the blends provokes a stronger restriction to the amorphous phase mobility of PET in the blends than in pure PET.