Next generation technology is set to revolutionize medical imaging by enabling earlier detection of brain tumors with one scan, improving the diagnosis and therapy of cancer, and increasing patient throughput in hospitals, according to news of a pioneering UK project.
ProSPECTus is a project led by a team at the University of Liverpool working with the Nuclear Physics Group and Technology departments at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) situated about 20 miles away at the Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire.
The project aim is to develop the technology for next generation SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) imaging devices.
SPECT is a widely used type of imaging for testing heart function and tumors that detects gamma rays from a tiny amount of radioactive material injected into the patient. It provides 3D functional information about the body, typically rendered as images of cross-sectional slices through the patient’s body.
Current SPECT technology uses an “Anger Camera” made of a filter (collimator) with lots of tiny holes through which pass just a few gamma rays, and from which, with an understanding of geometry, it is possible to build a biological picture of what is happening in the patient.
The next generation technology that the ProSPECTus team is working on will instead use a “Compton Camera”, which can pinpoint the source of gamma rays without a collimator, thus requiring less radiation, resulting in greater efficiency and less wastage.
Previous attempts at a “Compton Camera” approach have not succeeded, but with new cutting edge detector systems, the team is building a new prototype that is 100 times more sensitive than current SPECT technology.
The increased sensitivity is expected to bring two advantages: either reduced dose of radiation per patient, or higher throughput of patients per machine at the current dose.
STFC’s Particle and Nuclear Physics Applied Systems (PNPAS) programme is backing the ProSPECTus project financially. The programme funds “blue sky” research projects that generate knowledge exchange into the areas of health, security and energy applications.
One such project is AGATA (Advanced Gamma Tracking Array), a nuclear physics research and development project to create the next generation gamma-ray spectrometer and which spawned ProSPECTus’ new cutting edge detector systems designed by the Nuclear Physics teams at the University of Liverpool and STFC Daresbury.
Dr Andy Boston, the project spokesperson at the University of Liverpool, told the press that not only is the new technology a hundred times more sensitive than that which uses the more traditional camera, it is unique in that:
“It will also be possible to operate it simultaneously with MRI (Magnetic resonance Imaging), which has never been an option due to the MRI’s strong magnetic field.”
In fact, said Boston, it will also be possible to fit the new SPECT technology retrospectively into the 350 or so existing MRI scanners currently operating throughout the UK.
“For patients this means fewer appointments, earlier and more effective diagnosis of tumors, which means higher probability of effective treatment,” said Boston, adding that the higher sensitivity camera also has the advantage of shorter imaging time and lower radiation doses which is good for patients who need frequent scans.
Boston also stressed that for clinicians the new technology will mean they can scan more patients per day.
He paid tribute to the two teams:
“This is a truly collaborative effort between the Nuclear Physics Groups both at the University of Liverpool and STFC Daresbury Laboratory, working with STFC’s Technology teams who will design and build the detector cryostat and with the essential support from Liverpool’s Magnetic Resonance & Image Analysis Research Centre (MARIARC) who provide the MRI expertise,” said Boston.
Ian Lazarus, who is with the STFC’s Nuclear Physics team at Daresbury, was also excited by the new development:
“ProSPECTus has taken the abilities of the Compton imager to a new level.”
“This is a particularly exciting example of how technology emerging from one nuclear physics project, in this case, AGATA, can have a direct and positive impact on the future wellbeing of our society,” he added.
Source: Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD