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The thick GEM (THGEM) [1] is an expanded GEM, economically produced in the PCB industry by simple drilling and etching in G-10 or other insulating materials (fig. 1). Similar to GEM, its operation is based on electron gas avalanche multiplication in sub-mm holes, resulting in very high gain and fast signals. Due to its large hole size, the THGEM is particularly efficient in transporting the electrons into and from the holes, leading to efficient single-electron detection and effective cascaded operation. The THGEM provides true pixilated radiation localization, ns signals, high gain and high rate capability. For a comprehensive summary of the THGEM properties, the reader is referred to [2, 3]. In this article we present a summary of our recent study on THGEM-based imaging, carried out with a 10x10 cm^2 double-THGEM detector.
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Electron tracking based Compton imaging is a key technique to improve the sensitivity of Compton cameras by measuring the initial direction of recoiled electrons. To realize this technique in semiconductor Compton cameras, we propose a new detector concept, Si-CMOS hybrid detector. It is a Si detector bump-bonded to a CMOS readout integrated circuit to obtain electron trajectory images. To acquire the energy and the event timing, signals from N-side are also read out in this concept. By using an ASIC for the N-side readout, the timing resolution of few us is achieved. In this paper, we present the results of two prototypes with 20 um pitch pixels. The images of the recoiled electron trajectories are obtained with them successfully. The energy resolutions (FWHM) are 4.1 keV (CMOS) and 1.4 keV (N-side) at 59.5 keV. In addition, we confirmed that the initial direction of the electron is determined using the reconstruction algorithm based on the graph theory approach. These results show that Si-CMOS hybrid detectors can be used for electron tracking based Compton imaging.
An extensive comparison of the path uncertainty in single particle tracking systems for ion imaging was carried out based on Monte Carlo simulations. The spatial resolution as function of system parameters such as geometry, detector properties and the energy of proton and helium beams was investigated to serve as a guideline for hardware developments. Primary particle paths were sampled within a water volume and compared to the most likely path estimate obtained from detector measurements, yielding a depth-dependent uncertainty envelope. The maximum uncertainty along this curve was converted to a conservative estimate of the minimal radiographic pixel spacing for a single set of parameter values. Simulations with various parameter settings were analysed to obtain an overview of the reachable pixel spacing as function of system parameters. The results were used to determine intervals of detector material budget and position resolution that yield a pixel spacing small enough for clinical dose calculation. To ensure a pixel spacing below 2 mm, the material budget of a detector should remain below 0.25 % for a position resolution of 200 $mathrm{mu m}$ or below 0.75 % for a resolution of 10 $mathrm{mu m}$. Using protons, a sub-millimetre pixel size could not be achieved for a phantom size of 300 mm or at a large clearance. With helium ions, a sub-millimetre pixel spacing could be achieved even for a large phantom size and clearance, provided the position resolution was less than 100 $mathrm{mu m}$ and material budget was below 0.75 %.
Proton therapy is nowadays becoming a wide spread clinical practice in cancer therapy and sophisticated treatment planning systems are routinely used to exploit at best the ballistic properties of charged particles. The information on the quality of the beams and the range of the protons is a key issue for the optimization of the treatment. For this purpose, proton radiography can be used in proton therapy to obtain direct information on the range of the protons, on the average density of the tissues for treatment planning optimization and to perform imaging with negligible dose to the patient. We propose an innovative method based on nuclear emulsion film detectors for proton radiography, a technique in which images are obtained by measuring the position and the residual range of protons passing through the patients body. Nuclear emulsion films interleaved with tissue equivalent absorbers can be fruitfully used to reconstruct proton tracks with very high precision. The first prototype of a nuclear emulsion based detector has been conceived, constructed and tested with a therapeutic proton beam at PSI. The scanning of the emulsions has been performed at LHEP in Bern, where a fully automated microscopic scanning technology has been developed for the OPERA experiment on neutrino oscillations. After track reconstruction, the first promising experimental results have been obtained by imaging a simple phantom made of PMMA with a step of 1 cm. A second phantom with five 5 x 5 mm^2 section aluminum rods located at different distances and embedded in a PMMA structure has been also imaged. Further investigations are in progress to improve the resolution and to image more sophisticated phantoms.
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cancer in men worldwide and the most frequently diagnosed cancer among men in more developed countries. The prognosis of PCa is excellent if detected at an early stage, making early screening crucial for detection and treatment. In recent years, a new form of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging called correlated diffusion imaging (CDI) was introduced, and preliminary results show promise as a screening tool for PCa. In the largest study of its kind, we investigate the relationship between PCa presence and a new variant of CDI we term synthetic correlated diffusion imaging (CDI$^s$), as well as its performance for PCa delineation compared to current standard MRI techniques (T2-weighted (T2w) imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) imaging) across a cohort of 200 patient cases. Statistical analyses reveal that hyperintensity in CDI$^s$ is a strong indicator of PCa presence and achieves strong delineation of clinically significant cancerous tissue compared to T2w, DWI, and DCE. These results suggest that CDI$^s$ hyperintensity may be a powerful biomarker for the presence of PCa, and may have a clinical impact as a diagnostic aid for improving PCa screening.
In this paper we investigate, with a detailed Monte-Carlo simulation based on Geant4, the novel approach [Nucl. Instrum. Methods A588 (2008) 457] to 3D imaging with photon scattering. A monochromatic and well collimated gamma beam is used to illuminate the object to be imaged and the photons Compton scattered are detected by means of a surrounding germanium strip detector. The impact position and the energy of the photons are measured with high precision and the scattering position along the beam axis is calculated. We study as an application of this technique the case of brain imaging but the results can be applied as well to situations where a lighter object, with localized variations of density, is embedded in a denser container. We report here the attainable sensitivity in the detection of density variations as a function of the beam energy, the depth inside the object and size and density of the inclusions. Using a 600 keV gamma beam, for an inclusion with a density increase of 30% with respect to the sorrounding tissue and thickness along the beam of 5 mm, we obtain at midbrain position a resolution of about 2 mm and a contrast of 12%. In addition the simulation indicates that for the same gamma beam energy a complete brain scan would result in an effective dose of about 1 mSv.
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