FullSpect3D -Fully Spectral Multimodal 3D imaging system for small animals
FullSpect3D -Fully Spectral Multimodal 3D imaging system for small animals FullSpect3D is part of the third public competition in the TRIO program, organized by the Ministry of industry and trade. The project is scheduled for 3 years, beginning in 2018. Advacam s.r.o. is leading the project, having successfully completed several projects in the past – not only in the Czech Republic, but on an international scale as well. ADVACAM is responsible for the part dedicated to the development of the detectors and advanced imaging methods.
The other members of the consortium are:
- Radalytica a.s.: Integration of the imaging system into a final solution and developing the control software and imaging software.
- Charles University, 1. Medical Faculty, Center of advanced preclinical imaging: Evaluation of the developed system and preclinical tests on small animals.
Studies on small animals are a basic and inseparable part of the research for new drugs and methods of cancer treatment. The main aim of this project is the development of a new multimodal 3D imaging system for preclinical and biological studies on small animals, allowing a significant increase of scanning speed, the reduction of radiation dose and improvement of image quality. The system combines three main imaging modalities:
- SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography)
- Compton Camera
- PET (Positron Emission Tomography)
- spectral CT (Computed Tomography)
- XRF imaging (X-Ray fluorescence) for visualization of contrast agents or heavy elements naturally occurring in the organism
The detection system exploits the newest technology of Timepix3 detectors which makes it possible to detect individual photons and simultaneously measures their energy, incidence time and position.
Main benefits of this imaging system include:
- reduction of the radiation exposure of the animal during imaging,
- increase in speed of measurement and thus streamlining preclinical studies,
- reduction of contrast and / or radioisotope for functional imaging,
- combining of imaging modalities into one device resulting in
- reduction of scanner acquisition costs.
Other possible application:
- imaging of pathological samples
- imaging of biopsy specimens
- monitoring of therapeutic procedures (brachytherapy, thyroid gland …)
- imaging using mammography