Time-of-Flight PET for Proton Therapy (TPPT)*

Proton therapy is a cancer treatment option that has the advantage of reducing the dose to normal tissue and organs at risk located beyond the Bragg peak of proton dose deposition.  Using Time-of-Flight (ToF) PET imaging, the project seeks to provide real-time information of beam location and intensity. Specifically, we are using Monte-Carlo Simulation and experimental data in conjunction to optimize the PET scanner for Proton Therapy by understanding detector response to isotopes produced by tissue activation.

We will report first performance results for the full prototype PET system including Sensitivity, Position Resolution, and Coincidence Time Resolution (CTR) measurements. The PET system consists of two detector module assemblies in the shape of angular sections of a cylinder with an inner diameter of 325 mm and axial length 105 mm. The two angular sections cover 99 degrees each, and require seperation to allow for the passage of a proton beam into the patient. In total, the scanner consists of 96 detector modules, each with 64 3x3x15 mm LYSO crystals.This prototype will later be evaluated with phantoms and animals at the proton therapy center of MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, USA.