Compton Camera Research Articles

Development of a Compton telescope calorimeter module for MeV-range gamma-ray astronomy

Gamma-ray astronomy in the MeV energy range shows a lack of sensitivity compared to other gamma-ray energy bands. Several space observatory projects are proposed to space agencies to fill this gap. The COMCUBE CubeSat project will focus on the measurement of the polarization of the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which can provide an understanding of the physics of ultra-relativistic jets. Furthermore, the linear polarization of distant gamma-ray sources could be a probe to study the fundamental physics related to the Lorentz invariance violation. A Compton telescope is particularly well-suited for that purpose. We develop an instrument including double-sided silicon strip detectors and scintillation crystals coupled to a pixelated photodetector. The incoming photon undergoes an inelastic scattering in one or several layers of a position-sensitive silicon strip detector before being absorbed in a position-sensitive calorimeter based on inorganic scintillators. The measurement of both positions and energy deposits enables the determination of the photon’s source direction. It also enables measurement of the linear polarization of the incident gamma-rays. In this contribution, we present the results of the extensive work we have carried out to develop the calorimeter and its integration into a Compton telescope prototype. We conclude by showing the first image and polarization measurements.

Studies and optimization of scintillation light measurements for the development of the 3-gamma medical imaging XEMIS2 liquid xenon Compton camera

We report the studies and optimization of scintillation light measurements in an updated version of the XEMIS1 prototype for the development of the XEMIS2 camera. A novel monolithic liquid xenon Compton camera, named XEMIS2 (XEnon Medical Imaging System), attempts to achieve low-activity small-animal imaging using the 3-gamma imaging technique. This emerging detector relies on the time projection chamber technique: it will be able to perform a simultaneous detection of the three γ -rays emitted by a specific radionuclide, such as scandium-44, and to produce a good quality image with a remarkable diminution of radiopharmaceutical activity at the same time. Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) scintillation light and ionization charge carriers generated from the recoiling particles within the detector are detected and used to reconstruct the interaction position and deposited energy. A cost-effective self-triggering scintillation signal read-out and data acquisition (DAQ) system has been developed to achieve a continuous data read-out with negligible electronics dead time. The DAQ prototype has been installed and qualified in an updated version of the XEMIS1 detector. It reaches the performance specifications in scintillation light measurements. Moreover, scintillation signals can also be used for the virtual segmentation of the monolithic detection volume through the matching algorithm of the scintillation and ionization signals based on the light collection map (LCM). This spatial pre-localization of the physical events, called the virtual fiducialization of the active volume, is used to lower the detector occupancy rate when the administered activity is increased to lessen the examination time. The XEMIS1 experimental LCMs indicate that each PMT owns an individual field of view so as to segment the active volume virtually. The preparation work for the XEMIS2 camera operation has been completed in the updated XEMIS1 detector while the XEMIS2 scintillation light measurement system is under commissioning in Nantes Centre Hospitalier Universitaire. • The XEMIS2 camera oriented to the whole-body small animal 3-gamma medical imaging is presented. • The XEMIS2 system is a monolithic liquid xenon Compton camera with a 24 cm axial field of view. • A dedicated cost-effective 16-channel self-triggering scintillation signal front-end read-out electronics called XSRETOT is described. • The experimental light collection maps of an updated version of the XEMIS1 detector have been built, which can be used for the virtual segmentation of the monolithic detection volume to reduce the detector occupancy rate in the context of increasing the administered activity.

Radiation imaging of a highly contaminated filter train inside Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station unit 2 using an integrated Radiation Imaging System based on a Compton camera

ABSTRACT The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) suffered a meltdown in the aftermath of the large tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on 11 March 2011. A massive amount of radioactive substance was spread over a wide area both inside and outside the FDNPS site. In this study, we present an approach for visualizing a radioactive hotspot on a standby gas-treatment system filter train, a highly contaminated piece of equipment in the air-conditioning room of the Unit 2 reactor building of FDNPS, using radiation imaging based on a Compton camera. In addition to fixed-point measurements using only the Compton camera, data acquisition while moving using an integrated Radiation Imaging System (iRIS), which combines a Compton camera with a simultaneous localization and mapping device and a survey meter, enabled the three-dimensional visualization of the hotspot location on the filter train. In addition, we visualized the hotspot and quantitatively evaluated its radioactivity. Notably, the visualized hotspot location and estimated radioactivity value are consistent with the accident investigation report of the FDNPS. Finally, the extent to which the radioactivity increased the ambient dose equivalent rate in the surrounding environment was explored.

A Wide Energy Range and 4π-View Gamma Camera with Interspaced Position-Sensitive Scintillator Array and Embedded Heavy Metal Bars.

(1) Background: Gamma cameras have wide applications in industry, including nuclear power plant monitoring, emergency response, and homeland security. The desirable properties of a gamma camera include small weight, good resolution, large field of view (FOV), and wide imageable source energy range. Compton cameras can have a 4π FOV but have limited sensitivity at low energy. Coded-aperture gamma cameras are operatable at a wide photon energy range but typically have a limited FOV and increased weight due to the thick heavy metal collimators and shielding. In our lab, we previously proposed a 4π-view gamma imaging approach with a 3D position-sensitive detector, with which each detector element acts as the collimator for other detector elements. We presented promising imaging performance for 99mTc, 18F, and 137Cs sources. However, the imaging performance for middle- and high-energy sources requires further improvement. (2) Methods: In this study, we present a new gamma camera design to achieve satisfactory imaging performance in a wide gamma energy range. The proposed gamma camera consists of interspaced bar-shaped GAGG (Ce) crystals and tungsten absorbers. The metal bars enhance collimation for high-energy gamma photons without sacrificing the FOV. We assembled a gamma camera prototype and conducted experiments to evaluate the gamma camera’s performance for imaging 57Co, 137Cs, and 60Co point sources. (3) Results: Results show that the proposed gamma camera achieves a positioning accuracy of <3° for all gamma energies. It can clearly resolve two 137Cs point sources with 10° separation, two 57Co and two 60Co point sources with 20° separation, as well as a 2 × 3 137Cs point-source array with 20° separation. (4) Conclusions: We conclude that the proposed gamma camera design has comprehensive merits, including portability, 4π-view FOV, and good angular resolution across a wide energy range. The presented approach has promising potential in nuclear security applications.

Recovering a function from its integrals over conical surfaces through relations with the Radon transform

This paper addresses the overdetermined problem of inverting the n-dimensional cone (or Compton) transform that integrates a function over conical surfaces in . The study of the cone transform originates from Compton camera imaging, a nuclear imaging method for the passive detection of gamma-ray sources. We present a new identity relating the n-dimensional cone and Radon transforms through spherical convolutions with arbitrary weight functions. This relationship, which generalizes a previously obtained identity, leads to various inversion formulas in n-dimensions under a mild assumption on the geometry of detectors. We present two such formulas along with the results of their numerical implementation using synthetic phantoms. Compared to our previously discovered inversion techniques, the new formulas are more stable and simpler to implement numerically.

Evaluation and optimization of geometry parameters of GAGG scintillator-based Compton Camera for medical imaging by Monte Carlo simulation

In nuclear medicine, the development of portable imaging devices that provide high imaging resolution and sensitivity, capable of imaging gamma rays with a wide energy range and multiple radioisotopes tracing capabilities, is so important. These goals have been possible thanks to developing a compact Compton camera, a collimatorless detector coupled to compact silicon photomultiplier(SiPM) array, using scintillator crystal. In this study, the portable segmented GAGG:Ce scintillator-based Compton camera (CC) is optimized with the GATE, a Monte Carlo simulation toolkit based on Geant4, to maximize its performance for a wide range of gamma-ray energy (364–1000 keV). The geometrical parameters are selected as optimization parameters to investigate their effects on CC's performance, including imaging resolution and absolute detection efficiency (DE a ). The geometry parameters of CC include the planner area of scatterer and absorber detectors, their thicknesses, and the distance between them. The results for the energy range of 364–1000 keV show that the most important contributions to the spatial resolution and DE a of the camera are SAD (scatterer to absorber distance) and the scatterer area while changing absorber area (AA ) showed the most negligible impact. In the short SADs, imaging resolution and DE a are significantly affected by the detector's size and thickness. On the other hand, in the long SADs (> 4 cm), both spatial resolution and DE a are significantly affected by the detector's area but less affected by the detector's thickness. Decreasing the scatterer's thickness and the absorber's size or thickness improves imaging resolution without significantly reducing DE a . The simulation study's findings presented here will provide valuable guidelines for researchers choosing a desired CC's design according to particular objectives, manufacturing limitations in scintillator growth, cost, etc.

An Extended List-Mode MLEM Algorithm for 3D Compton Image Reconstruction from Multi-View Data

The lack of parallax in the measurements is a big challenge in 3D image reconstruction for handheld Compton cameras. Our solution to this issue is to extend the conventional list-mode maximum-likelihood expectation-maximization (LM-MLEM) 3D reconstruction algorithm to allow the simultaneous use of multi-view Compton data seeking parallax improvement. It involves building a new list-mode simultaneous data space from multi-view Compton events, formulating the associated probabilistic models for the system response matrix and sensitivity, and developing an extended LM-MLEM algorithm. For the performance assessment, we experiment the extended 3D reconstruction algorithm on real multi-view data conducted with a handheld CeBr3 Compton camera developed by Damavan Imaging and a punctual 0.2 (MBq)22Na source. Various comparative studies with different view numbers, source locations and energy ranges confirm the outperformances of our extended LM-MLEM algorithm.

Primordial Black Holes as dark matter candidates: Constraints from the diffuse MeV emission

For more than 20 years, the Compton telescope had provided the best measurements of the Galactic diffuse MeV spectrum. Recently, our analysis of 16 years of data from the SPectrometer on INTEGRAL (SPI) measured this emission with a higher signal-to-noise ratio. At MeV energies, the dominant contribution to the diffuse emission comes from inverse Compton scattering. Nonetheless, sub-dominant emission from Primordial Black Hole (PBH) Dark Matter (DM) can be searched for in these data. Hypothetically formed from the collapse of over-densities before Big Bang nucleosynthesis, PBHs are interesting candidates for DM in the ΛCDM model of cosmology. PBHs of masses between 1016 and 1018 g, in the so-called asteroid mass range, are currently unconstrained and can saturate the DM cosmological abundance. MeV emission from PBH in this mass range is expected to come from PBH evaporation. We searched for the PBH signal with 16 years of SPI data, and demonstrated that PBHs cannot account for all the DM if their mass is smaller than 4 × 1017 g.

INTEGRAL study of MAXI J1535−571, MAXI J1820+070, and MAXI J1348 − 630 outbursts

In black hole X-ray binaries, a nonthermal high-energy component is sometimes detected at energies above 200 keV. The origin of this high-energy component is debated and distinct spectral modelizations can lead to different interpretations. High-energy polarimetry measurements with the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) enable new diagnostics on the physics responsible for the MeV spectral component in black hole X-ray binaries. In this work, we aim to investigate the high-energy behavior of three bright sources discovered by the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image: MAXI J1535−571, MAXI J1820+070, and MAXI J1348−630. We took advantage of their brightness to investigate their soft γ-ray (0.1–2 MeV) properties with INTEGRAL. We used both spectral and polarimetric approaches to probe their high-energy emission with the aim of bringing new constraints on the MeV emission in black hole X-ray binaries. We first studied the spectral characteristics of the sources in the 3–2000 keV range using JEM-X, IBIS, and SPI, with a semi-phenomenological description of the data. We then used IBIS as a Compton telescope in order to evaluate the polarization properties of the sources above 300 keV. A high-energy component was detected during the hard-intermediate state and soft-intermediate state of MAXI J1535−571, the low-hard state of MAXI J1820+070, and the low-hard state of MAXI J1348−630. The components detected in MAXI J1820+070 and MAXI J1348 − 630 were polarized with a polarization fraction of 26 ± 9° and &gt; 56% in the 300–1000 keV range, respectively. With no polarization information for MAXI J1535−571, the component detected could either come from the jets or the corona. In the case of MAXI J1820+070, the extrapolation of the synchrotron spectrum measured in the infrared indicates that the component is likely due to a nonthermal distribution of electrons from a hybrid corona. For MAXI J1348−630, the high fraction of polarization points toward a jets origin; however, we cannot formally conclude this without any infrared data giving information on the optically thin part of the synchrotron spectrum.

Readout Circuit System to Improve the Spatial Resolution and Measurable Energy Range of a Compton Camera

Readout Circuit System to Improve the Spatial Resolution and Measurable Energy Range of a Compton Camera

Some uniqueness theorems for a conical Radon transform

The conical Radon transform, which assigns to a given function f on its integrals over conical surfaces, arises in several imaging techniques, e.g. in astronomy and homeland security, especially when the so-called Compton cameras are involved. In many practical situations we know this transform only on a subset of its domain. In these situations, it is a natural question of what we can say about f from partial information. In this paper, we investigate some uniqueness theorems regarding a conical Radon transform.

A model of spatial resolution uncertainty for Compton camera imaging

A model of spatial resolution uncertainty for Compton camera imaging

Low-energy Electron-track Imaging for a Liquid Argon Time-projection-chamber Telescope Concept Using Probabilistic Deep Learning

The GammaTPC is an MeV-scale single-phase liquid argon time-projection-chamber gamma-ray telescope concept with a novel dual-scale pixel-based charge-readout system. It promises to enable a significant improvement in sensitivity to MeV-scale gamma rays over previous telescopes. The novel pixel-based charge readout allows for imaging of the tracks of electrons scattered by Compton interactions of incident gamma rays. The two primary contributors to the accuracy of a Compton telescope in reconstructing an incident gamma-ray’s original direction are its energy and position resolution. In this work, we focus on using deep learning to optimize the reconstruction of the initial position and direction of electrons scattered in Compton interactions, including using probabilistic models to estimate predictive uncertainty. We show that the deep-learning models are able to predict locations of Compton scatters of MeV-scale gamma rays from simulated 500 μm pixel-based data to better than 1 mm rms error and are sensitive to the initial direction of the scattered electron. We compare and contrast different deep-learning uncertainty estimation algorithms for reconstruction applications. Additionally, we show that event-by-event estimates of the uncertainty of the locations of the Compton scatters can be used to select those events that were reconstructed most accurately, leading to improvement in locating the origin of gamma-ray sources on the sky.

Radio and γ-ray Evidence for the Supernova Origin of High-velocity Cloud Complex M

Using λ21 cm galactic neutral hydrogen data from the HI4PI survey and 0.75–30 MeV γ-ray emission from the Imaging Compton Telescope, we have searched for the origin event that accelerated high-velocity cloud Complex M. Radio plots of l − b, l − v, and b − v show a cavity centered at (l, b) ∼ (150°, 50.°) and extending about ±33°. The best view of the cavity is at a velocity of −25 km s−1, which shows a circular cross section on the back (receding) face. Complex M, at −85 km s−1, is on the front (approaching) face. The γ-ray emission reveals several minima, the largest centered at (l, b) ∼(150°, 50.°) and coincident with the position and extent of the cavity seen in the radio data. Using the known distance to Complex M and assuming that the cavity is spherical, we can bootstrap the distance to the original, explosive source of the cavity D = 307 pc, calculate the radius of the cavity R = 166 pc, and approximate the expansion velocity V E ≈ 40 km s−1 of the cavity. The total energy of the expanding cavity is 3.0 ± 1.0 × 1050 erg, well within the range of a single supernova. These results indicate that this explosion took place about four million years ago. As the blast wave from this supernova propagated outwards, it began to sweep up interstellar gas and carved out the Local Chimney, a low-density extension of the Local Bubble that reaches into the galactic halo.

Design improvement and characterization of SOI-based silicon-photomultiplier prototype

We designed and fabricated six new silicon-on-insulator silicon-photomultiplier (SOI-SiPM) prototypes with a SOI CMOS using 200-nm integrated-process technology. Each prototype consisted of sixty-four 30-μm microcells but had a different combination of quenching resistance (100 or 200 kΩ), cathode size, and guard-ring size. The observed breakdown voltage was 20.5–21.9 V with an operation range of 2.6–3.8 V; the measured gain was approximately 1–3 × 105. The measured time resolution with full excitation was 22.7 ps (FWHM); the single-photon time resolution was 246.3 ps. The photon spectrum showed clear photon-counting capability and the photo-detection efficiency was 8.1% (a four-fold improvement from the previous prototype). These results suggest that SOI-SiPM can be employed in a fully integrated monolithic pixel photon detector, which would be a useful sensor for positron emission tomography, Compton camera, or photon-timing applications.

Activation imaging of drugs with hybrid Compton camera: A proof-of-concept study

The visualization of drugs is essential for cancer treatment. Although several methods for visualizing drugs have been proposed, a versatile method that can be easily applied to various drugs has not yet been established. Therefore, we propose “activation imaging,” in which a drug is irradiated with thermal neutrons and becomes radioactive, enabling visualization using emitted x rays and/or gamma rays. Activation imaging does not require the conjugation of specific tracers with drugs. Therefore, it can be easily applied to a variety of drugs, drug carriers (e.g., metal nanoparticles), and contrast agents. In this study, neutron activation, gamma-ray spectroscopy, and imaging of drug carriers, anticancer drug, and contrast agents were performed. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and platinum nanoparticles were used as drug carriers, cisplatin was used as an anticancer drug, and gadoteridol and iohexol were used as contrast agents. As a neutron source, the RIKEN accelerator-driven compact neutron source II (RANS-II) was utilized. The imaging was performed using a hybrid Compton camera (HCC). The HCC can visualize x rays and gamma rays ranging from a few keV to nearly 1 MeV, which enables the imaging of various x rays and gamma rays emitted from the activated drugs. As a result, the gamma-ray spectra indicated the generation of radioisotopes through neutron irradiation, and AuNPs and iohexol were visualized.

Pixel Chamber: A solid-state active-target for 3D imaging of charm and beauty

The Pixel Chamber project purpose is the production of the first solid state active target capable of performing continuous, high-resolution (O(μm)) 3D tracking. The aim is to create a bubble chamber-like high-granularity stack of hundreds of very thin monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) glued together. In this paper, the R&D to develop the first prototypes with ALPIDE sensors, designed for the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC, will be presented. Tracking and vertexing algorithms were developed to reconstruct tracks and vertices inside Pixel Chamber. They were tested on Monte Carlo simulations which show that it is possible to obtain a high efficiency for the reconstruction of hadronic tracks, and for the primary and secondary vertices inside the detector. The tracking algorithm has been tested on test beam data to reconstruct long tracks produced in a single ALPIDE sensor parallel to a beam. Results show that it is possible to obtain very good performances in long track reconstruction on a single ALPIDE. Among the possible applications, Pixel Chamber used as an active target, has the potential to allow precision measurements of charm and beauty production. Even more interesting are possible medical and astrophysical applications. The usage of the Pixel Chamber as scatterer detector in Compton Cameras would reduce by orders of magnitude the numbers of gammas required for performing a precise source imaging, both for in vivo monitoring during hadron therapy and for astrophysics measurements.

Activation imaging: New concept of visualizing drug distribution with wide-band X-ray and gamma-ray imager

The visualization of drug distribution in the body plays an essential role in cancer therapy. Although various imaging methods have been proposed, a versatile method for visualizing multiple types of drugs is yet to be established. Therefore, we propose “activation imaging” as a new method for visualizing various drugs. Activation imaging activates drugs with protons or neutrons, enabling the visualization of drugs using gamma rays and/or X-rays emitted from the activated drugs. This method does not require labeling drugs with specific tracers because the constituent elements of the drugs become radiotracers through proton/neutron irradiation. Therefore, activation imaging can be used to visualize various types of existing drugs, including anticancer drugs, drug carriers, and contrast agents. In this study, we activated drugs using low-energy neutrons and performed gamma-ray spectroscopy and imaging. We used several types of drugs, such as cisplatin, a platinum-based anticancer drug; gold and platinum nanoparticles, which are promising drug carriers; and gadoteridol, a gadolinium-based contrast agent. Imaging was performed using a hybrid Compton camera, which can visualize X-rays and gamma rays ranging from a few tens of keV to nearly 1 MeV. With this wide-band X-ray and gamma-ray imager, various X-rays and gamma rays emitted from drugs can be visualized. Moreover, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed for cisplatin and gadoteridol to investigate whether the molecules of the drugs were degraded by neutron irradiation. Consequently, gamma rays from the activated drugs were observed in the spectra, and all drugs were successfully visualized. Furthermore, the HPLC results showed that most gadoteridol and cisplatin molecules retained their structure through activation.

Compton sequence estimation based on the deep learning method

Determining the sequence of Compton scattering and photoelectric absorption events for a Compton camera system through timing information is difficult due to the finite timing resolution of radiation detectors. The conventional method compares the energies of two sequential events and determines the order of these events. The deep learning method can estimate the sequence of Compton scattering followed by the photoelectric effect better than the conventional method because it determines the sequence based on both energy and positional information of the radiation interaction. The initial information of the deep learning models is the position and energy information, and the input data are then processed in the nodes of the hidden layers. In this study, the performance of deep learning models for Compton sequence estimation and the effect of position information on these methods were investigated. The accuracies of the deep learning method and the conventional comparison method were compared. The weights connecting each node were analyzed to evaluate the effects of position and energy information to determine the Compton sequence.

A hybrid coded-aperture and Compton camera based on cerium-doped Gd3Al2Ga3O12 scintillators coupled with multi-pixel photon counter arrays.

In this study, we propose a hybrid coded-aperture and Compton camera based on cerium-doped Gd3Al2Ga3O12 (GAGG:Ce) scintillator arrays coupled with Multi-Pixel Photon Counter (MPPC) arrays. The sensitive detector of the gamma camera consists of a single GAGG:Ce crystal coupled with a single-chip MPPC unit module. An impedance bridge circuit and a 64-channel data acquisition system were employed to record the code-aperture events and Compton coincidence events. After the calibration of position and energy, the total energy resolution for 662keV gamma-rays from 137Cs was 6.6%. The hybrid camera had the characteristics of mechanical collimation and electronic collimation at the same time. In the code aperture mode, the reconstructed images were obtained by direct deconvolution and maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) methods. In the Compton imaging mode, the energy-dependent method was applied to order the sequence of Compton scatter events. The simple back-projection algorithm and list-mode MLEM algorithm were adopted for image reconstruction. Practical performances demonstrated that the angular resolutions in two modes were measured as 5.2° and 11.4°, respectively. In addition, the hybrid camera had a desirable imaging capability in a wide energy range (32 keV-2.6MeV) and a wide field of view (∼210° in the horizontal direction). As for the sensitivity, the camera had a commercially available sensitivity level of localizing a 137Cs point source, producing ∼0.026 µSv/h in 5min. Furthermore, the function of distinction for different radiation sources was preliminarily realized.