Research Overview
Our research interests involve the development of novel instrumentation and software algorithms for in vivo imaging of molecular signatures of disease in humans and small laboratory animals. These new cameras efficiently image radiation emissions in the form of positrons, annihilation photons, gamma rays, and light from molecular probes developed to visualize and quantify molecular pathways of disease from deep within tissue of live subjects.
Most of our work focuses on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) , but we are also working on other imaging modalities.
The research topics that we are currently working on include:
- Advanced positron emission tomography (PET) system dedicated to breast cancer imaging
- Promising semiconductor detector material for enhancing PET performance
- New scintillation light detection concepts for PET
- Integration of PET with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) without mutual interference
- Strategies for practical, high quality and accurate list mode iterative image reconstruction for PET
- Advanced time-of-flight (ToF) PET photon detectors
- Algorithms that exploit 3-D positioning PET detectors to enhance system performance
- Modeling, computation, and simulations of PET physics, components, systems, and phantom/patient studies
- Handheld gamma ray camera to guide surgery
- Intra-operative beta (positron or electron) detectors and cameras
- Development of a cardiac-dedicated PET system
- New front-end IC with fast timing for semiconductor photodetectors
- All-optical temporal correlation for PET
- Point Spread Function modeling for PET
