Nuclear Medical Imaging is at the forefront of molecular imaging diagnostic, theragnostic and treatment follow-up techniques for a number of diseases (cancer, neurodegenerative impairment, cardiovascular disorders, etcโฆ), particularly in the rapidly growing context of personalised medicine.
Although Positron Emission Tomography (PET) already provides the best molecular sensitivity and...
Positron emission tomography is an important medical diagnostic tool that exploits the process of positron annihilation with an electron in a patientโs tissue, resulting in two gamma-ray photons with 511 keV energy and opposite momenta. The two annihilation photons are also entangled in their polarizations, specifically, their polarizations are mutually orthogonal, a property not yet utilized...
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a cancer treatment technique that combines the power of radiation therapy with targeted therapy. In this technique, patients are administered a targeted pharmaceutical containing 10B that selectively accumulates in tumor tissues and are then irradiated with a beam e [epi-]thermal neutrons. These neutrons interact with 10B through a large-cross-section...
Hadron therapy offers significant advantages over conventional radiotherapy, primarily due to the maximization of the applied dose during treatment at the Bragg peak. However, additional benefits could be realized if a quasi-real-time monitoring system for ion-range verification were available. Such a system would help reduce safety margins and enhance the therapy's potential benefits by...
In particle therapy of cancer, patients are typically submitted to a total radiation dose of a few tens of Gy fractionated in several daily sessions of some minutes of treatment time. During recent years evidence has been provided for reduced therapeutic side effects when the same total dose is applied in less than a second. This so-called FLASH effect is the subject of clinical and...
Total-Body Positron Emission Tomography (TB-PET) technology and designs have become very popular in the recent years. These systems are very attractive because of their high sensitivity resulting from their extended axial Field of View (FOV) and potential Time of Flight (TOF) capabilities, allowing for the simultaneous study of the kinetics of multiple organs. Most of TB-PET designs and...
This research builds upon the findings of Zidouh et al. (2023), which involved a thorough experimental comparison of thermoluminescent (TL) and optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimetry systems in accordance with international standards set by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). In this first part, the...
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is established as the molecular imaging modality of choice for the study and diagnosis of different medical conditions such as cancer or neurodegenerative diseases. Current instrumentation research focuses on increasing the sensitivity of PET systems to provide faster imaging or/and a reduction of the dose administered to the patient. With this objective, it...
Introduction: A significant advancement in mammography examinations is tomosynthesis, which allows for the three-dimensional reconstruction of breast images and improves detection sensitivity. However, it also leads to an increase in the absorbed dose to the breast. The accuracy of the estimation of the average glandular dose is crucial to ensure the optimal functioning of...
Measurements showing the potential to discern the ingrowth of yttrium-90 (Y-90) from its parent strontium-90 (Sr-90) in aqueous media, based on direct ฮฒ- particle detection will be described. These have been made using an unshielded cerium bromide (CeBr3) detector in a dedicated depth monitoring probe, hereafter referred to as โABACUSโ, in media stripped of yttrium. Whilst similar...
In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, global concerns have been raised about the potential contamination of seafood imported from Japan. In particular, the recent release of treated water into the ocean has caused public concern in neighbouring countries. In the Republic of Korea, various organisations carry out inspections of seafood to ensure the safety of the food supply and to...
The TRIGA RC-1 is a research reactor with a thermal power output of 1 MW, located at the ENEA Casaccia Research Centre in Rome (RM). This facility is extensively utilized for neutron activation analyses and various neutron-related experiments and applications, owing to its capability to produce a broad range of thermal spectral neutron fluence rates.
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) can be...
Proton and Radiotherapy are leading particle therapy tactics used to combat chronic and malignant cancers [1]. Ultrahigh dose rate (UHDR) flash therapy, is a new treatment modality that is currently being studied by several groups. The treatment delivers high doses in a short period of time (40 Gy/s) and is highly effective against tumor cells while maintaining healthy cells. Moreover,...
Brain tumor detection is a critical task in medical diagnostics, where early and accurate identification can significantly impact patient outcomes. This research focuses on the development and optimization of deep learning (DL) models to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of brain tumor detection from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. By leveraging Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs),...
Introduction: Ultra-high-dose rate FLASH radiation therapy (UHDR) is an innovative modality that delivers higher dose rates (40 Gy/s) in a pulsed beam structure. At the core of this exciting approach lies the ability to reduce major normal tissue complications without compromising tumor control efficacy, referred to as the "FLASH effect." However, the underlying mechanisms governing the...
Motivation: We present a gamma detector concept for high-energy prompt-gammas based exclusively on Cherenkov light for use in proton range verification (PRV) in proton and heavy ion therapy. The radiation backgrounds in these environments are very harsh, with a high abundance of 511 keV photons due to positron activation, fast neutrons, and pulsed sequences that lead to high emission rates...
Proton therapy represents an advancement in modern brain cancer treatment, offering high precision in targeting tumours while sparing healthy brain tissue. A significant challenge still faced in proton therapy is uncertainty in the depth of proton penetration, which critically impacts successful treatment. The current leading candidate to tackle this problem is prompt gamma-ray monitoring,...
Hadron therapy offers a significant advantage over conventional gamma-ray radiotherapy: its specific dose deposition profile with a maximum, called Bragg peak, at the end of the hadron range allows for more precise tumour targeting while sparing the healthy tissues. However, uncertainties in the prediction of the range in the patient leads to the use of relatively large safety margins, thus...
Proton therapy relies on accurate knowledge of patient anatomy to ensure precise dose delivery. Treatment planning systems in proton therapy centers rely on X-ray computed tomography (CT) as the primary imaging modality to calculate proton treatment doses for tumors and surrounding healthy tissues. However, the derivation of proton stopping powers from X-ray images introduces significant...
In vitro experiments with rat kidney cells (NRK-52E) exposed to $^{243}\mathrm{Am}$ in cell culture medium show a decreasing cell viability with increasing americium concentration. Both the chemical cytotoxicity of americium and the dose caused by ionizing radiation have to be considered as possible causes. To determine the dose rate, the influence of ฮฑ-, ฮฒ- and ฮณ- radiation was examined...
The application of pixel detector technology in medical imaging and radiotherapy monitoring has significantly advanced the precision and efficiency of cancer treatment. Recent innovations, particularly the integration of Timepix3-based pixel detectors, have enhanced treatment monitoring for therapies such as FLASH, carbon ion radiotherapy, and thyroid cancer treatment. These detectors enable...
The IRIS group of IFIC has developed a Compton camera for medical applications made of LaBr3 crystals coupled to SiPM arrays. The prototype MACACO III consists of three detector planes, each one composed of a LaBr3 monolithic crystal coupled to a 64-channel SiPM array. The readout is carried out with the ASIC VATA64HDR16 operated with the AliVATA readout board. Besides the tests conducted with...
At the frontier between research and innovation, POSiCS is a project aiming to build a scalable and handheld gamma-camera for radio-guided surgery. The project is shared between three partners: the University of Geneva, the University Hospital of Geneva and the Fondazione Bruno Kessler. These consortium of institutions have been granted an European grant for innovation and have filled together...
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is an experimental form of radiotherapy that uses boron, injected to the patient attached to a target molecule that accumulates selectively in cancerous cells. This therapy exploits the large neutron capture cross-section of boron to deliver a targeted dose from neutron irradiation. One of the primary challenges in current BNCT is the accurate determination...
The development of radiation measurement instruments that enable in-vivo assessment and control of radiation treatments in brachytherapy is highly recommended by the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and it is supported by the Agรจncia Valenciana de la Innovaciรณ (AVI). In-vivo dosimetry for high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy requires a miniature-sized dosimeter, that...
The determination of operational dosimetric quantities such as ambient dose equivalent $H^{*}$(10) and directional dose equivalent $H^{\prime}$(0.07, 0$^{\circ}$) in photon radiation fields is of great importance in radiation protection monitoring. This assessment typically involves configurations of several detectors, each of them calibrated and intended for the measurement of one single...
Multimodal imaging systems, such as micro-PET/CT scanners, are essential tools in preclinical research, enabling the acquisition of both anatomical and physiological information in a single imaging session. In these systems, CT-based attenuation maps can be applied to PET data as a correction factor, enhancing the molecular image quality and enable precise PET quantification.
The...
Lung diseases represent a significant global health challenge, with conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ranking as the third leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The disease causes inflammation and destruction of lung tissue, making early detection of this and similar conditions crucial for reducing mortality and enhancing patient...
The increasing use of electronic devices in our daily lives makes the recycling of these devices a major challenge. Indeed, the production of such equipment requires the use of many metals, including rare earth elements, whose extraction raises numerous environmental, strategic, and economic issues. In nature, these mineral deposits are sparsely concentrated, making their extraction complex,...
Radiometabolic therapy is a class of clinical treatments that involves administering radiopharmaceuticals to kill and prevent further development of cancer cells by targeting them at the molecular level. The specificity of this treatment and the possibility of a personalized approach make radiometabolic therapy one of the most promising therapeutic protocol in clinical precision medicine. On...
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of female mortality, and radiotherapy is a key therapeutic approach in its treatment. Accurate evaluation of the doses delivered to surrounding tissues is crucial for optimizing treatment plans while minimizing side effects. In this study, we use the Monte Carlo GEANT4 platform to simulate the female thoracic region and evaluate the doses deposited by...
This research investigates the microdosimetry of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) through advanced multicellular modeling. We designed a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation featuring a configuration of 7 interconnected cells. The study comparatively evaluates different water models (G4_WATER and H2O) and three distinct physics lists (Geant4-DNA, G4QGSP_BIC, G4QGSP_BIC_HP) to determine...
Ac-225 is a very promising radionuclide for targeted alpha therapy, as demonstrated in a number of pre-clinical experiments and clinical trials. However, due to the extremely low injected activities and the number of emitted gamma-rays, imaging via single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is very challenging. Moreover, SPECT works best at energies in the ~100keV range, so its...
$^{14}$C measurements are essential in various fields, such as radiocarbon dating and environmental monitoring. While the level of carbon-14 in the environment remains relatively stable over time, detecting low concentrations of $^{14}$C in environmental samples can still be challenging. To achieve the required sensitivity for low-level $^{14}$C detection, specific sample preparation and...
Water activation is a critical consideration in fusion reactors, where the interaction of neutrons with cooling water leads to the production of radioactive isotopes, including $^{16}_{7}$N, which emits high-energy $\gamma$ rays. The activated cooling water contributes to intense radiation fields around fusion reactor cooling loop that require careful monitoring to ensure the safety of...
Compton imaging represents a promising technique for Prompt Gamma (PG) imaging for range verification in hadron therapy (HT) treatments. As for neutron monitoring, a drawback of most of the available systems is that only integral off-field neutron-fluence values are registered but no information is obtained from its spatial origin. Dual neutron and gamma imaging is also of prime interest for...
MultimodโAir is a CEA internal project aiming at developing a demonstrator of a mobile platform for environmental measurement in any place of interest from cities, rural or industrial outdoor areas.
The platform comprises a dozen of detectors including gas sensors (NO2, O3, NH3, N3, CL2, Ox, H2S, SO2), fine particle sensors (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) for pollution monitoring, as well as a complete...
The automatic network of environmental radioactivity, REMRAD, managed by the National Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ISIN), consists of highly sensitive radiological monitoring stations through automatic sampling and spectrometric analysis systems of atmospheric particulate matter, deposited on a large filter splitted into 15 separate circular areas where the same...
This paper presents an analysis of initial operational data from three newly developed ground-level neutron monitors, the NM-2023, and compares them with established monitors reporting to the Neutron Monitor Database (NMDB). The NM-2023s are deployed at the Camborne Met Office Observatory in Cornwall, United Kingdom, Lancaster University, United Kingdom, and the University of Rome Tor Vergata,...
The global use of radioactive isotopes across diverse sectorsโsuch as industry, research, energy production, medicine, and healthcareโhas led to the widespread distribution of these materials in society. This proliferation has raised significant concerns among governments and organizations about the potential for accidental radioactive releases into the environment, which could lead to...
