65
High
Mr. Kanai S. Shah,
Dr. Gerald Entine, Business
Official, gentine@rmdinc.com
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-04ER84055
Amount: $750,000
With the ever-increasing number of human diseases being
modeled in small animals such as mice and rats, the high resolution
radionuclide imaging (such as SPECT, single photon emission computed
tomography) of these small animals is required.
Clinical SPECT scanners used for human imaging are bulky, expensive, and
do not have adequate spatial resolution for small animal studies. Dedicated, low-cost instruments are required
for conducting small animal studies with higher resolution than currently
achievable with clinical SPECT scanners.
This project will develop a new approach
to the design of a high resolution, low cost SPECT system for small animal
imaging, using solid-state detectors. Phase
I designed and built high resolution detectors for eventual use in small animal
imaging. High spatial resolution and
high sensitivity were achieved with these detectors using isotopes commonly
used in small animal SPECT imaging. In
Phase II, the detector design will be optimized, and a prototype small animal
SPECT imaging system will be built and evaluated.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The detector technology should be very promising for SPECT and other medical imaging modalities such as positron emission tomography. It also should be useful in nuclear and particle physics research, astronomy, diffraction, non-destructive evaluation, and safeguards.